NEW DELHI, JAN 7: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah is fuming over the Rs 1,750-crore plan recently finalised for the state.Abdullah, who had boycotted the meeting with Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission and instead sent State Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather to sign the annual plan, later met Prime minister A.B. Vajpayee and Home ministry L.K. Advani to lodge his protest, sources close to him told The Indian Express. The plan allocation has come a good nine months late.Abdullah is angry despite the Finance Ministry going overboard and sanctioning a special Rs 250-crore package to cover the state's Rs 500-crore budget deficit. Jammu and Kashmir had been demanding that it be granted a special 500-crore package to bridge the gap in its budget. The Finance Ministry, however, had been unhappy about the state's indiscretion in not sticking to its commitement to raise its revenue by Rs 500 crore with a special one-time grant of Rs 700 crore santioned earlier.Being one of the 13 states to have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Centre for bringing about reforms to rejuvenate its financial health, Jammu and Kashmir had apparently not kept its promise to raise its revenue with a special Central grant. As a reprimand, the Finance Ministry has been seeking deduction of Rs 500 crore from its projected Rs 2,525 crore plan allocation. The move was hotly contested by the Chief Minister, who wanted special dispesantion for a state like Jammu and Kashmir where the government could no longer afford to take unpopular steps like raising tarrif to increase revenue in view of the insurgency.The Planning Commission has been showing its helplessness in agreeing to Abdullah's demands since the pursestrings were in the hands of the Finance Ministry. Abdullah had, however, managed to put pressure on the Finance Ministry to come half-way through on its stand of deducting Rs 500 crore. This has apparently come after he had canvassed for a special package during his too frequently held meetings with the Central leaders. Abdullah has, however, been told by the Central leaders that the state government's should frame speical developmental plans, and these would be given a favourbale consideration.
