SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir Government on Friday enhanced the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) for MLAs from Rs 3 crore to Rs 4 crore annually and revoked a contentious clause that had mandated legislators to recommend projects within the first 90 days of the financial year.
The decision, which takes effect from the current financial year 2025-26, was formalised through an order issued today by Santosh D Vaidya, Principal Secretary, Finance Department. The order omits the earlier guideline that required MLAs to submit their list of recommended works within three months of the new fiscal year — a move that had drawn sharp criticism across the political spectrum.
MLAs from the ruling National Conference, its allies Congress and CPM, and the Opposition BJP had united in opposition to the clause, arguing that such a restrictive timeline defeated the core objective of the CDF, to allow elected representatives the flexibility to address developmental needs as they arose throughout the year.
“Recommending works worth the full CDF allocation in the first 90 days would leave us with no resources for the remaining nine months,” said one MLA, echoing the concern that had been raised repeatedly since the guideline was introduced. Legislators demanded that the scheme follow the more flexible model of the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), which had earlier guided CDF utilisation in Jammu and Kashmir before the 2018 dissolution of the Assembly.
The new order reflects the government’s response to these sustained demands and marks a return to the pre-2018 CDF protocol.
However, there remains ambiguity over the fund allocation for the October 2024–March 2025 period — a six-month window that followed the formation of the Omar Abdullah-led National Conference government. Legislators who took oath in mid-October last year after the Assembly elections have demanded pro-rata allocation of CDF from their swearing-in date. The Finance Department’s latest order remains silent on this issue, mentioning only the start of allocation from April 1, 2025.
During the March-April budget session, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who also holds the Finance and Planning portfolios, had assured the Assembly that the CDF would be restored and enhanced to reflect both inflationary realities and grassroots demands.
The rollback of the 90-day restriction comes after months of pressure from legislators like BJP’s Rajiv Jasrotia, Pawan Gupta and RS Pathania, Congress’s Tariq Hamid Karra, CPM’s M Y Tarigami, and several NC MLAs, all of whom had called the time-bound clause “impractical and counterproductive.”
“The demand-driven nature of constituency work requires year-round flexibility. People approach us with urgent development needs throughout the year. To exhaust the fund in the first quarter is neither logical nor just,” said Karra, welcoming the government’s decision.
The CDF empowers MLAs to recommend development works — such as roads, electrification, health infrastructure, and educational upgrades — based on local needs. The enhancement to Rs 4 crore per annum marks the first such revision since 2018, when the last Assembly was dissolved and the erstwhile State was brought under President’s Rule, eventually leading to its reorganisation into a Union Territory.
