Thirty-one per cent of the Prime Minister’s Rs 80,000-crore development package for
Jammu and Kashmir has been released to the state government and 25% of the total amount utilised so far. According to home ministry officials, the largest chunk of utilised funds has gone out as assistance for damaged houses, mostly on account of 2014 floods.
As per a review of the implementation of PM’s package undertaken by home secretary Rajiv Gauba on March 26, 2018, in Srinagar, Rs 62,991 crore had been sanctioned for various development projects, of which Rs 24,443 crore has been released and Rs 20,417 crore utilised. Of the 63 projects being implemented by 15 central ministries and the state government, 13 have been completed or are nearing completion.
The projects completed so far include assistance for completely/severely/partially damaged houses (Rs 1,200 crore), rehabilitation package for Jammu migrants (Rs 13 crore), enhanced remuneration for special police officers (Rs 450 crore), raising of India Reserve battalions (Rs 300 crore), construction of double lane road from
Batote-Kishtwar-Anantnag (Rs 130 crore) and four-laning of Chenani-Nashri section NH-1A (Rs 781 crore).
The projects nearing completion are four-laning of Jammu-Udhampur section of NH-1A, upgrading Srinagar-Uri-LoC road, balance central share liability of JNNURM projects and interest subvention on assistance for restoration of livelihood for traders/self-employed and business establishments, etc.
A parliamentary standing committee had in its report submitted last month said the progress on implementing the Prime Minister’s development package was slow and a “poor outcome” had been achieved in the past 12 months.
“Observing this pattern of poor outcome in the past 12 months, the committee recommends that the ministry of home affairs intensify efforts to achieve measurable outcome under the PM's development package by speeding up the work in the upcoming fiscal and implement all the projects at the earliest,” the panel had said.