J&K Finance Minister says he needs reality check: Rs 5,800 cr

J&K Finance Minister says he has a little problem: how to tell people that of the Rs 24,000 crore announced in the PM’s plan yesterday,...

J&K Finance Minister says he has a little problem: how to tell people that of the Rs 24,000 crore announced in the PM’s plan yesterday, Rs 5,800 crore is what the state will get—over the next four years.

‘‘We are grateful to the Prime Minister for this reconstruction plan but it will certainly create problems for us. Already, a floodgate has opened. The ministers and legislators have started asking for raise in their salary and other perks. Hardly anyone of them knows that Rs 18,000 crore from it will go to Central power projects. My calculation is that we have around Rs 5,800 crore which includes the Rs 500-1,000 crore given by the previous government,’’ Muzzafar Hussain Beig told The Indian Express tonight.

The Rs 24,000-cr breakup, Beig said, is as follows:

• Rs 18,000 crore for power projects of the National Hydro-electric Power Corporation, of which Rs 15,000 crore has already been earmarked.

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• Rs 1,000 crore for laying transmission lines and distribution of power

• Rs 800 crore for roads

• Rs 600 crore as part of Asian Development Bank fund

• Rs 700 crore for education and health care

• Rs 750 crore for Wular Lake conservation. And the rest for three projects, Dal Lake conservation, upgradation of the Srinagar airport and laying of 220 KV line to Leh, commissioned by the NDA government.

On the lifting of ban on recruitments in government jobs, Beig said: ‘‘Every year, we have to sign an MoU (with the Centre) saying that we will reduce revenue expenditure by 5%. And salaries to our employees is part of that revenue expenditure. If we don’t do so, the penalty is that the 15% of our non-plan allocation is withheld. It is around Rs 450 cr. This is exactly why we had frozen all recruitments,’’ Beig said. ‘‘Once we start the recruitment again, where will their salary come from?’’

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