Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Thursday welcomed the ₹1,08,621 crore budget tabled in Parliament, with a provision of ₹200 crore for recently constituted 20 District Development Councils (DDCs) and ₹71.25 crore for 285 Block Development Councils (BDCs) as development fund.
“The government is committed to strengthening Panchayati Raj Institutions [PRIs] and substantial allocation has been made for the developmental fund as well as for PRI infrastructure,” Mr. Sinha said.
The L-G’s remarks came after the Lok Sabha passed the J&K Appropriation Bill, 2021 along with supplementary demands for the Union Territory on Thursday, with special focus on the recently constituted DDCs and BDCs.
Besides ₹200 crore for 20 DDCs and ₹71.25 crore for 285 BDCs as development fund, ₹30 crore have been earmarked for establishment of DDC and BDC offices and a provision of ₹1,313 crore is for PRIs and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) for rural and urban infrastructure and ₹80 crore for PRI security, officials said.
The L-G said the ₹1,08,621 crore budget surpassed all the previous allocations, with 37% of the earmarked budget to be spent on development and infrastructure projects.
Mr. Sinha thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for “yet another historic budget with emphasis on the growth and development of Jammu and Kashmir.”
He said the government was committed to investing more money in new and accelerated infrastructure projects, supporting new investments and increasing business landscape through incentives in new industrial schemes.
Focus on tourism
“The budget lays down a road map for the tourism industry to get back on track. Besides, the push to rural economy and agriculture would provide a fillip to horticulture and overall agri sector and benefit the farming community,” the L-G said.
The budget has a capital expenditure of ₹39,817 crore and revenue expenditure of ₹68,804 crore.
According to the Jammu and Kashmir spokesman, the Union government has also kept ₹800 crore for capitalisation of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank Limited, ₹400 crore for the GST reimbursement.
According to official figures, out of the total revenue budget of ₹12,460 crore for the administrative sector, 71% will be spent on the Home department; out of a total budget of ₹21,691 crore for the social sector, 51% is likely to be spent on the Education department; out of a total revenue budget of ₹29,059 crore for the infrastructure sector, 60% will be spent through the Financial Department and out of the total revenue budget of ₹5,464 crore for the economic sector, 28% is likely to be spent on the Forest department.
