High level central team arriving today

J&K busy in formulating strategy

SYED ALI SAFVI

SRINAGAR, Oct 4: The state government machinery is gearing up for crucial meetings with a top level central team comprising of secretaries and additional secretaries, which is likely to arrive here tomorrow. The purpose of their visit is to formulate new economic package for Jammu and Kashmir in view of the state government’s failure to optimally utilize a massive reconstruction plan of Rs 29000 crore sanctioned by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the state way back in 2005.

The team’s visit will be followed by Prime Minister’s trip to Kashmir during which he is scheduled to flag off Qazigund-Anantnag railway line. While, the date of Prime Minister’s visit has not been announced yet, he is expected to arrive here this month only.

Besides announcing the new reconstruction plan, the prime minister is expected to invite the separatists for a new dialogue process. The process got dead locked after the separatists had rejected Dr Singh’s invitation to attend the round table conference here three years back.

However, the back channels recently got re-activated and created an atmosphere for the resumption of talks. This was evident from the statements of central government leaders including union home minister P. Chidambaram and Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.

Immediately after his return from New York yesterday, Mirwaiz stated that his faction would respond positively to talks offer from the centre and their dialogue would be guided by the aspirations of Kashmiris.

Sources said the pressure is mounting on government of India to re-start the dialogue with separatists in Kashmir and Pakistani government. After the talks between Hurriyat (M) and centre, Mirwaiz and other leaders of his faction would be allowed to travel to Pakistan.

During his New York visit, Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mehmood Quereshi had invited Hurriyat (M) leadership to Islamabad for talks. Prior to talks, the Hurriyat (M) is expected to strongly demand the release of senior separatist leaders including Shabir Ahmad Shah from jail.

Official sources said that the state government machinery today remained busy in chalking out their strategy for talks with central team tomorrow.

The state government recently admitted that it had failed to utilise 78 per cent of the PM Reconstruction plan. The funds were to be utilized by March 2009.

“We have requested the government of India to extend the deadline and we hope it will be granted,” Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather had told the Legislative Assembly on August 22, 2009. He said that out of Rs 29954.85 crore received by the state under the scheme, Rs 6367.53 crore have been utilised on the various schemes and projects and blamed bureaucrats for the gross under-utilisation of funds.

The Prime Minister has decided to re-allot the lapsed funds to the state after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah personally made a request to this effect.

The team, headed by the Cabinet Secretary, would study the ground realities and after holding discussion with the state officers it will draw up a revised plan which will be presented to the Prime Minister.

The plan reportedly sanctioned Rs 634 crore for the Srinagar-Leh transmission but the money was not spent. Rs 1,470 crore was released for a sewerage and drainage project for Greater Jammu and Rs 1,741 for Greater Srinagar. The state failed to spend even a penny.

“The two cities of Jammu and Srinagar are facing severe sewerage problems, but the efficiency of the government can be seen from the fact that not a single penny has been spent on this project,” Panther’s Party legislator Harsh Dev Singh had told the Assembly.

The plan included renovation of houses and shrines at Kheer Bhavani and Mattan, construction of 200 flats at Budgam, construction of 5242 two-roomed tenements at Jammu for Kashmiri Migrants, rehabilitation of Border Migrants, etc

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced the Reconstruction Plan during his first visit to state in on November 17-18, 2004. The plan was to be implemented in three years but was extended several times. The funds were supposed to be utilised for restoring damaged infrastructure, creating new infrastructure for delivery of basic services and set off strategic interventions to address the shortfall and imbalances in the state’s economy. Sadly, the plan has failed to meet any of these goals.