SRINAGAR: Rs 500 crore package for rebuilding lives of Kashmiri Pandits was among the slew of measures announced for Jammu and Kashmir in Union Budget 2014 presented by finance minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday.
He also announced the setting up of an IIT in Jammu, solar power project in Ladakh and new sports facilities in the state.
Jaitley said that a fund of Rs 500 crore will be earmarked for providing support to Kashmiri Pandits for rebuilding their lives. The
Narendra Modi government has flagged rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants, who left the valley after the onset of militancy in 1990, as its priority and, ahead of the budget, a series of meetings was held between officials of the state and the Centre.
At present, 60,452 families of Kashmiri migrants are registered in the country, of which 38,119 are in Jammu, 19,338 in Delhi and 1,995 in other states. The NDA government allocated Rs. 500 crore for the creation of five more IITs and Indian Institutes of Management IIM.
While the new IITs are to come up in Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgrah, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, the five new IIMs will be built in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, Odisha and Maharashtra.
Making an observation that Jammu and Kashmir had a lot of sporting talent which was not finding expression due to inadequate facilities, Jaitley said that a sum of Rs 200 crore is being provided for upgrading indoor and outdoor stadiums to international standards in Jammu and in Kashmir Valley.
Jaitley also proposed to launch Pashmina Promotion Programme and a programme for the development of other crafts of Jammu and Kashmir with a sum of Rs 50 crore earmarked for the same in the budget. Also, Ladakh was included by the finance minister in a proposal, which also covers Rajasthan, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, for ultra mega solar power projects with Rs 500 crore allocated for the purpose.
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