KL Report
SRINAGAR
Patron of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Saturday said the incompetence of political leadership and mis-governance is responsible of prevailing financial crunch in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. He said that inefficiency of the present leadership has thrown the state into unprecedented financial crisis and gravity of the prevailing mess can be gauged from the fact that the state government has failed to even arrange matching grants for various central sponsored welfare schemes.
According to a statement issued to KNS, while addressing a meeting of the SC-OBC wing of the party here today, Mufti pointed towards central sponsored welfarist schemes are defunct in the state because the state government has failed to provide matching grants for these schemes. “Instead of arranging matching grants to make such welfare schemes functional, the state government is more concerned about disbursing funds to its blue-eyed boys in irrational manner ”, he said.
He said that prevailing financial bankruptcy in the state is depriving weaker sections of the society of the benefits of various schemes especially formulated for their upliftment. “Others states are taking benefits of the revolutionary central sponsored schemes meant for the socio-economic growth of the weaker and marginalized sections of the society but in J&K these schemes are defunct because state government has failed to arrange even matching grants”, he said and regretted that ruling elites of the state are more concerned about their own luxuries instead of addressing problems of the deserving lot of the society.
Mufti said that unemployed educated youth are the worst victim of the prevailing financial bankruptcy in the state because government does not have funds to create job avenues for the unemployed youth. “Whooping amount spent to provide luxuries to ruling elites and mis-used on unproductive sectors could have been utilized properly to provide jobs to the unemployed youth”, he argued.
“It is result of the prevailing financial anarchy in J&K that state government has even failed to secure normal plan funds from the Centre”, he said and pointed out that during the previous financial year also the centre had forfeited Rs 1300 crores out of plan allocations for state government’s inability to spend funds in time and properly.
PDP patron pointed out that this government has failed to even get routine funding from the Planning Commission of India and other organizations due to financial mis-management and lack of accountability and transparency. “The previous PDP-Congress government had got huge financial support from the successive governments at the Centre due to its performance and proper utilization of funds”, he said and mentioned that during the tenure of previous government two Prime Ministers had announced special economic packages for the State.
Pointing towards financial position in the State, he regretted that government does not have funds to release pensions for widows, aged old and handicapped. “Where the money approved in the Assembly during last budget session for these pension schemes has been gone?”, he asked and maintained these amount for these welfare schemes has been diverted to provide luxuries to the ruling elites.
He further said that bills worth hundreds of crores had remained unpaid for months together due to financial crunch.
“On the one hand government has huge resources for the luxuries of its leaders but when it comes to making genuine expenditure it cites lack of resources as a reason”, he mentioned and added that thousands of people engaged in different departments as casual, daily wagers or seasonal employees do not receive remuneration for months together. The PDP patron attributed the prevailing administrative and financial anarchy in the state to the political ineptitude of National Conference leadership.
