MHA146;s J-K wing to be 145;progress oriented146;

Sayeed told reporters that he had proposed that the department, which was merely helping J-K recover its huge Security Related Expenditure SRE from the Centre, be made more 8216;8216;development-oriented8217;8217;. The SRE is the amount incurred on fighting terrorism and includes ex-gratia compensation for the victims of violence.

The move, sources said, means appointment of some more economists and planners in the coming days. Sayeed also claimed that the Centre was setting up a high power committee to explore possibilities of employment generation in the state.

The J-K CM said he was pleased with the Centre8217;s special gesture of waiving interest due from the state on the Rs 20,000 crore projects to be funded by the ADB Asian Development bank. The state, he said, needs Rs 20,000 crore investment to bring it on par with other states.