80,000 crores J&K package is so far only jumla in Kashmir

By: Mehmood Bedar

Srinagar: In November 2015, Prime Minister Narindra Modi announced a huge package of 80,000 crores for the J&K State and even on August 27, 2018, 90 percent of this package has not been started and only few projects have been able to even start in this State. AIIMS in Kashmir, IIM in Jammu and Zojila Pass Tunnel for all weather roads to connect Ladakh region with rest of the country is still in pipeline. Most of the big projects announced by the BJP government in the Centre under Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP) are still at various levels stuck in bureaucracy with no possibility of getting the funds to start these projects.

While the Congress has been accusing the Prime Minister for being a Jumla Prime Minister, in J&K State, about 80,000 crores package has not been started even today. In some areas like power development, there has been some progress similarly few thousand crores have been spent for rebuilding the infrastructure after the floods in various parts of Jammu and Kashmir State, but the game-changer projects for the development have not been started.

BJP-PDP coalition government used to talk about this package and was claiming that it would be a game-changer for this hilly State. In all these projects, either DPRs have not been prepared or the government has been very slow to acquire land for these projects. In many projects there is no clearance from the Forest Department and the result is that the Central Government has not released the funds.

Giving details about these projects one of the National newspapers said that the projects worth the Rs. 69,178 crores which is over 86 percent of the total PMDP outlay of Rs. 80,068 crores. The report further said that till the end of June 30, 2018 DPRs are still being finalized or just submitted in four of the 13 roads and tunnel projects in Jammu and Kashmir State. The report however, claimed that 15 percent of the total outlay of power projects in the PM package has picked some pace. It has mentioned that Pakal Dul power project of 1000 MWs and Srinagar-Leh Transmission Line was going on. However, out of 28 small hydro-power projects worth 2000 crores only few projects have been cleared, but the funds from the central government have not been disbursed even for these projects.