Srinagar: Development in Jammu and Kashmir will get a major blow this year as the LG administration has deducted development funds from the District Development Councils to clear previous liabilities and poor utilisation of last year's allocated funds.
The deduction has annoyed the DDC members, who are up in arms against the administration as they fear public backlash for they will not be able to carry out development in their areas. The DDCs argue that for the poor utilisation of funds last year by the administration and clearing liabilities, the government is making them scapegoats to face public wrath.
Formed in 2021, the district development councils in the UT are at the forefront in making work plans for the development in rural areas. The 20 districts of the UT have 20 councils with each district having 14 elected members. Each DDC member is allocated Rs 71.25 lakh funds for development in their segments.
In February this year, the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented an interim Budget of Rs 59, 364 crore for Jammu and Kashmir UT, which was necessitated by the Lok Sabha elections in May. In this budget, capital expenditure was capped at Rs 19,283 crore. Of this Rs 272 crore were kept for District Development Councils (DDCs) and Block Development Councils (BDCs) for improving local governance at district and block levels.
As per the budget document of the Finance department, Rs 10 crore each was to be kept for 20 DDCs with each DDC member to get Rs 71.25 lakh while Rs. 25 lakh each for 285 (Block Development Chairman) was kept as development funds. In the absence of BDCs, the funds are to be utilised by the Block development officers.
The DDCs say that out of the Rs 272 crore, the government has deducted their funds for clearing previous liabilities. In April this year, Santosh D Vadiya, principal secretary to the Finance department directed all the departments to settle the unpaid bills (of contracting and supplying agencies) of the 2022-2034 financial year in the current (2024-2025) financial year.
"..... as per Rule 57(2) of GFR – 2017, unpaid bills from the previous financial year can be settled in the current financial year, provided they meet certain conditions which include adherence to allocated budgets, completion of codal formalities, and verification by both the concerned DDOs and Treasury officers."
The DDCs argue that since their elections in 2020, they have carried out development works in the absence of elected legislators, while the government also showcases them as democracy's face.
The DDC members in Jammu district have protested the unilateral deduction in funds during the district capex budget meeting held on Wednesday.
"The meeting remained stormy as from the very beginning all the 14 DDC Members including the Chairman, Bharat Bhushan opposed the deduction in the funds allotted this year for the development works. With the remaining meagre amount we will not be able to do justice with the public," the DDC members said.
Their counterparts in the Kashmir valley are also agitated over the fund deductions. "We have made many promises with the people about the development of roads, lanes, construction of bunds and improving water and electric supply. But when the government curtails our funds, how can we face the public and lie to them," Dr Harbaksh Singh, DDC member from Tral in Pulwama district, told ETV Bharat.
Ajaz Hussain, the BJP's lone DDC member from Srinagar, said that the administration has deducted funds in the district, while Mustafa Rahi, another DDC member from Kupwara also confirmed the same deduction. They said each DDC member in the 20 districts has seen an average Rs 30 lakh rupees deduction to their allocated funds.
An official in the Planning Department said the funds have not only been deducted from the DDC budget but also across the departments that had previous liabilities.
"Tedious tendering process, poor planning, poor efficiency of execution of work, delay in formulations of Detailed Project Reports (DPRs), delay in accord of administrative approval, disputes involving development works are among the main reasons for poor utilisation of funds," the official told ETV Bharat.
