Jammu- Terming the Rs 1,18,728-crore interim Budget for Jammu and Kashmir “growth oriented”, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday said the Union territory’s financial parameters have marked a steady growth over the past four years.
He said the power dues pending since 2005 are almost liquidated, which is a big achievement for his administration.
Sinha said the government is committed to peace, progress and prosperity of the Union territory.
Parliament recently passed the 2024-25 interim Budget for Jammu and Kashmir, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The interim Budget envisages a fiscal deficit of Rs 20,760 crore and a 7.5 per cent growth in the gross state domestic product (GSDP).
The capital expenditure for the fiscal has been proposed at Rs 38,566 crore, which is 14.64 per cent of the GSDP, according to the interim Budget tabled by the minister on February 5.
“This is an interim Budget and no big announcement was made in it. This was the fifth budget for Jammu and Kashmir prepared under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and during these five years, the government was successful in achieving various targets like overall development, employment generation and industrial growth,” Sinha told a press conference here.
He said the self-respect of the people of Jammu and Kashmir was restored with better opportunities for the youth, improved living conditions of farmers, women and the poor.
“The decades-old wounds of the people were healed and discrimination ended,” he said, adding the immediate goal of utilising funds is to accelerate the pace of economic development in Jammu and Kashmir and make it multi-dimensional.
“The Budget 2024-25 is primarily a growth-oriented budget and in line with the endeavours of the UT government to double its economy in the next few years,” the Lt Governor said.
He said the capital expenditure recorded a quantum jump of 245 per cent in the past four years, reaching Rs 38,566 crore.
The Lt Governor said his administration followed the Centre’s “mantra” on GDP – ‘G’ for good governance, ‘D’ for development and ‘P’ for performance – and also added fiscal consolidation to it.
“The financial progress of the UT was fully taken care of with focus on how to increase revenue and capital expenditure and minimize the wasteful expenditure and it was achieved successfully,” he said.
He said the revenue receipt estimates for 2024-25 is Rs 97,861 crore, a 92 per cent increase compared to 2018-19.
As far as the GSDP is concerned, Sinha said, the reforms brought by the administration over the past four to five years resulted in its increase from Rs 1.6 lakh crore in 2018-19 to Rs Rs 2.4 lakh crore this year.
The tax revenue witnessed an increase of 12 to 15 per cent in the last four years, while the number of GST payers increased from 72,000 in 2018 to over two lakh at present and the GST revenue recorded a 51 per cent increase during the same period, he said, adding the excise revenue and stamp duty also recorded a quantum jump.
The central government’s budgetary support also recorded a 51 per cent growth, he said.
“Because of the increase in the revenue receipts and assistance of the central government, the capital expenditure is expected to reach about 15 per cent of the GDP,” he said, adding the administration has achieved success in ensuring transparency and accountability to a large extent.
Referring to Jammu and Kashmir Bank, he said it is a living example of change over the past five years. “The bank has 1.4 crore account holders and was showing a loss of Rs 1,200 crore. Today, it is running a profit of Rs 1,300 crore which is expected to reach Rs 1,800 crore at the end of this financial year.”
He said non-performing assets (NPA) of the bank dropped from 11 per cent to 4.3 per cent, while the price of its shares increased from Rs 12.4 in 2019-20 to Rs 144 this year.
Over Rs 1,200 Crore Allocated For Security-Related Activities In J&K: LG Sinha
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday said that in the next financial year, more than Rs 1,200 crore have been allocated for security related activities including construction of 42 new border police posts to strengthen the anti-infiltration grid.
Sinha was briefing the media here on the key features of the over Rs 1.18 lakh crore interim Budget for the fiscal 2024-25 which was recently passed by the Parliament.
Highlighting the sector wise key features for 2024-25, he said an allocation of Rs 1,284.45 crore under revenue and capital expenditure was made for security related activities which also included construction of 1,218 community and individual underground bunkers for the border residents.
The completion of installation of CCTV cameras with command-and-control centres at public places, improvement of basic facilities in police stations, police posts and police housing complexes and implementation of Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) Project would also be covered, Sinha said.
The LG said the focus areas for the budget spending would be good governance, strengthening grass-root democracy, promoting holistic and sustainable agriculture, promoting Jammu and Kashmir as an investment destination, employment generation, developing new tourism destinations, accelerated development & inclusive growth, women empowerment and social inclusion.
With regard to e-governance initiatives for 2024-25, he said his administration plans to extend e-office in all the offices and panchayats, PM Gati Shakti to be fully implemented, emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and internet of things to be implemented for effective delivery of services to the citizens by the Information Technology Department.
He said Rs 5,038 crore under capital expenditure was allocated to water supply and irrigation, Rs 3,730.83 crore to rural development and panchayati raj, Rs 2,029.95 crore to agriculture and allied sectors, Rs 1,427.61 crore to health and wellness, Rs 1,875 crore for power sector and Rs 469.20 crore to tourism and culture.
Similarly, an allocation of Rs 1,300.10 crore was granted to the education department, Rs 2,329.55 crore to housing and urban development, Rs 4,108.87 to connectivity (roads and bridges) and Rs 529.62 crore for industrial development, the LG said.
Women-Led Development In J&K Our Prime Objective: LG
Asserting that women-led development is the prime objective of his administration, Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday directed educational institutions and departments to make policy interventions to further increase women’s participation in Science and allied disciplines.
“I strongly believe the active participation of women in science, technology and research can build India as a global innovation powerhouse.
“Women-led development in J&K is our prime objective. It is our collective responsibility to achieve this goal,” the Lt Governor said, addressing the inaugural session of the three-day ‘J&K Women Science Congress 2024’ at the University of Jammu.
He also impressed upon the universities and different stakeholders to take prominent writers and filmmakers on board for publications and films dedicated to women scientists and innovators of Jammu Kashmir.
“Increased female participation in PhD courses and special research projects in science and technology should be ensured, besides necessary financial and technical resource support must be extended to women scientists associated with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines,” Sinha said.
He instructed the J&K Science and Technology department to establish a special cell integrated with the women entrepreneurship platform of NITI Aayog.
Appreciating the efforts of the University of Jammu for promoting research and innovation in diverse fields, the Lt Governor highlighted the consistent efforts of the administration to bridge the gender gap at all levels of STEM disciplines in the Union Territory.
“Today, I am happy to see our daughters are driving innovation and change. We are proud of women scientists and tech leaders.
“From space to Artificial Intelligence, from entrepreneurship to healthcare, from education to innovation, from agriculture to research, the Nari Shakti is breaking barriers and inspiring the new generation,” he said.
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