Raman Suri
Ever since independence, successive governments of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, now a Union Territory (UT), had been dreaming of making this northern most part of India self-reliant, and to do that, ample funds were sought from all previous Central Governments, who honoured the move liberally. The money was poured in and all possible support was extended, but since the state was known for being the most corrupt and funds were siphoned off or looted right from top to bottom by everyone who handled public money, this dream of making J&K a financially independent state was never realised.
The height of corruption was to the extent that the entire country, includingJ&K, was branded as corrupt by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who,during his 1985 visit to the drought-hit district of Kalahandi in Odisha had said, “out of every rupee spent by the Government, only 15 paise reached the intended beneficiary”. This established that despite liberal funding, J&K remained a state under debt. To add to this corruption was complete chaos prevailing in J&K, where no Government was ever able to make people pay their taxes ably or strengthen the local bodies here.
In J&K, power theft was the order of the day, electricity transmission and distribution losses were all time high because of poorly laid down supply lines, people were not accustomed to pay taxes honestly, potable water was being supplied at a very nominal rate, in absence of elected local governing institutions like panchayats, municipal committees and municipal corporations, no taxes were levied on property or other amenities and most of all, like in other departments,funds were being siphoned off even in sports bodies like that of cricket.
The corruption was such that the money meant for cleaning of Dal Lake which ran in crores of rupees or money in the name of Security Related Expenditure (SRE) was also hardly utilised well, resulting in huge financial losses to the state. Since the state was going through a period of anarchy, bills on account of electricity consumption were never paid ably, resulting in huge losses to the state exchequer which was criminal in nature.
Now that the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has said that with the support of Centre, the administration has managed to move Jammu and Kashmir out of its debt issues and placed it on a path towards economic sustainability, it holds water. The statement calls for accolades for the reason that this is for the very first time in the history of Jammu and Kashmir since independence when the head of the state has come out with positive news about Jammu and Kashmir becoming self-reliant. This is not a vague statement but has come with substantial data and facts.
Jammu and Kashmir,wherein taxes are now being paid ably, GST collection has touched all-time high, electricity bills are regularly being paid, water charges levied are being collected regularly, transmission and distribution losses have come down after changing of the entire power supplying cables, almost all the districts are working hard to ensure one hundred percent metering of homes, local self-governing bodies are collecting money for civic amenities, and property taxes will soon be collected, we have all the reason to believe that “Jungle Raj” now stands replaced with democracy, where people are being told to live in the most civilised manner and contribute in the UT and the country’s development.
The way Jammu and Kashmir was being handled earlier, we would have never seen the presence of institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Indian Institute of Management (IIM), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) or witnessed new infrastructure like the highest railway bridge at Reasi. The successive rulers, busy looting public money and grinding their axes, had kept people underdeveloped to suit their nefarious designs. The erstwhile state was kept boiling on religious and regional lines, and development was elusive.
Today, when Jammu has been connected with Srinagar through a four-lane highway constructed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and work to connect Kashmir with Ladakh is going on at full pace, economy is seeing a new surge. The six-lane highway that is going to connect Katra with Delhi, besides ring roads in Srinagar and Jammu clubbed with massive flyovers, development of smart cities, ample parking lots, Tawi barrage and Riverfront projects are all going to add to our economy post abrogation of Article 370, making Jammu and Kashmir a self-reliant UT.
Jammu and Kashmir is increasingly becoming self-reliant, as evidenced by the administration’s claim of having successfully paid a massive power debt amounting to Rs 28,000 crore. This achievement highlights the region’s growing financial stability, bolstered by measures such as effective metering to curb power theft and ensure continuous 24×7 electricity supply. Additionally, Jammu and Kashmir’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) is projected to grow by 7.5% in the current fiscal year, reaching to Rs 2,63,399 crore for 2024-25, with the budget size for the year being Rs 1,18,390 crore-an increase of Rs 30,889 crore over the previous fiscal year’s expenditure.
We are marching towards contributing in the development of J&K, which is why after abrogation of Article 370, the burden on existing universities was reduced with the establishment of a central university in Ladakh UT. On the religious front, Shri Amarnath ji Yatra has crossed the 5.5 lakh mark, and the government has almost finalized a proposal to construct a ropeway up to this cave shrine, after which the number of pilgrims will increase manifold and it will directly boost our economy. The presence of Tirupati Balaji Temple in Jammu and other allied projects are yet to show their presence in a big way and the wait is going to be worth it.
Had it been the National Conference (NC), Congress or People’s Democratic Party (PDP), this kind of development would never have occurred in the next one hundred years and youth would have remained disillusioned. Today, when borders have fallen silent and young boys and girls are writing their own destiny by availing state and centrally sponsored schemes, a new and strong Jammu and Kashmir is emerging where there is no division on the basis of caste, creed, region, or religion.
Doors of progress have been opened up for the youth, which is why strife-torn Kashmir Valley is now seeing development of all kinds, and people are happy that they have gotten rid of dynasts, who were now grooming their third or fourth generation to snatch the rights of Kashmiris and rule the entire J&K. Their dreams stand shattered and the space vacated by these rulers or dynasts will now be filled in with common and new-age people of Jammu and Kashmir, who neither believe in separatism nor in having one-upmanship over another. They are fair, honest, need a platform to express their desires, implement new ideas and have no love for a rogue state like Pakistan which has taken lives of their brothers and sisters by pushing them towards violence in the name of ‘Azadi’, a term coined to exploit the sentiments of Kashmiris and enable dynasts to rule them.
As said by LG Manoj Sinha, Jammu and Kashmir has come a long way from being a “debt state” to a self-reliant UT, and we are sure that having taken the state out of floods, COVID era and separatist politics, we will also be able to dawn a complete peace here and give everyone a level-playing field where common people will freely contest the elections and become a part of the decision-making institutions in the days to come and the dynasts won’t be able to cultivate a new-age crop of their offsprings to rule commoners.
Going by the data provided by LG Manoj Sinha, it is quite encouraging that Jammu and Kashmir, during financial year 2024-25, has got a special assistance package of Rs 17,000 crore and has been able to pay a huge power debt bill amounting to Rs 28,000 crore. If our GSDP is expected to grow at 7.5 per cent during the current fiscal and tax revenue has increased from Rs 12,753 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 13,900 crore in 2023-24 besides GST collection has risen to 12 percent and excise collection has increased 39 percent in the 2023-24 fiscal against 2022-23, we are definitely a UT that is not struggling to become self-reliant but has indeed become SELF-RELIANT.
(The writer is Bharatiya Janata Party J&K Executive Member)
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