The Kashmir Pulse

SRINAGAR — National Conference leader and Anantnag-Rajouri MP Mian Altaf Ahmad criticized the Union Budget for 2024-25 during the ongoing Parliament session.

Speaking on the budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Ahmad expressed dissatisfaction, claiming it lacked provisions for Jammu and Kashmir.

He argued that the Finance Minister should have consulted local stakeholders, including MPs from J&K, before finalizing the budget.

Ahmad highlighted several issues in the region, including rising unemployment, inflation, delayed pensions, and unpaid contractor bills.

He also pointed out the soaring cost of airfares between Srinagar and Delhi, which is affecting tourism and emergency travel.

Additionally, he noted that many infrastructure projects are stalled, suggesting the formation of a House committee to visit Jammu and Kashmir and assess the situation firsthand.

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SRINAGAR — In a significant development, the Union government has taken over the budget of Jammu & Kashmir Police from the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.

As per the news agency KNO, in her J&K’s budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the Union government has agreed to take the entire budget of the police from the Union Territory of J&K.

"It is observed that around 11% of the budget of Jammu and Kashmir is used for police. Such expenses on policing being unavoidable, leave limited space for spending on development and welfare projects. I am happy to inform this august House that the Union government has agreed to take the entire burden of the budget of police from the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir,” she said.

With this announcement, J&K Police’s budget would no longer be part of J&K’s budget and would be part of the Union budget.

She said that the Central government will now provide for the salary, pension and other costs of Jammu and Kashmir Police for which an allocation of Rs 12,000 crore has been made in the annual budget.

This is for the first time after the reorganization of J&K that J&K Police’s budget has become part of the Union government’s budget.

Under the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019, police would be under direct control of the Central government as the J&K Legislative Assembly has no powers to make laws on “police” and “public order”.

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SRINAGAR — The Union Finance Ministry has proposed to allocate Rs 42277.74 crore for Jammu & Kashmir in the Union budget 2024-25, which was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament on Tuesday.

Of Rs 42277.74 crore proposed for J&K, Rs 40619.30 crore have been kept for bridging the resource gap of the Union Territory.

As per budget documents available with the news agency KNO, the Central assistance of Rs 40619. 30 crore also includes a sum of Rs 7900 crore, sanctioned as advance from the Contingency Fund of India which stands recouped to Contingency Fund of India after demands for grants 2024 are passed by Parliament and the connected Appropriated Act is assented by the President of India.

In the Union budget, Rs 279 crore has been kept as a grant for contribution towards J&K’s Union Territory Disaster Response Fund. The UT Disaster Response Fund would meet the expenditure on account of the mitigation of disasters caused due to natural calamities.

The Union Finance Ministry has also proposed to allocate grants towards equity contribution of 624 Megawatt Kiru power project, 800-MW Rattle power project, 540-MW Kwar project and Jhelum-Tawi Flood Recovery Project (JTFRP).

As per budget documents, Rs 130 crore, Rs 476.44 crore, Rs 171.23 crore and Rs 500 crore grants have been respectively earmarked for equity contribution towards these projects.

Moreover, Rs 101. 77 crore have been proposed to bridge the resource gap in funding for infrastructure projects.

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SRINAGAR — Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday unveiled Rs 1,18,390 crore budget for Jammu & Kashmir for the fiscal year 2024-25.

Budget estimates

As per budget documents accessed by the news agency KNO, total budget estimates for 2024-25 are Rs 1,18, 390 crore. “The total gross receipts are estimated at Rs 1,51,526 crore, including the provision for ways and means advances and over-draft of Rs 33,136 crore. Given these receipts, total gross expenditure is estimated to be Rs 1,51,526 crore,” read the documents.

Of which the revenue expenditure is estimated to be Rs 81,486 crore and capital expenditure to be Rs 36904 crore. As per documents, the total expected revenue receipts are Rs 98,719 crore and capital receipts are Rs 19,671 crore.

This was the sixth consecutive budget to be presented in the Parliament for J&K after the imposition of the Governor’s rule in June 2018 following the withdrawal of BJP’s support to Mehbooba Mufti-led coalition government.

After the imposition of the Governor’s rule, the budget for 2019-20 was approved by the then J&K Governor as head of the State Administrative Council. After downgrading J&K into a UT in August 2019, all budgets of the UT were presented in the Parliament.

On February 5 this year, J&K’s interim budget for 2024-25 was also presented in the Parliament.

Budget speech

In her budget speech, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that Rs 17,000 crore special assistance has been worked out to correct complex financial issues of J&K.

“This year, the Government of India decided to correct this historical aberration by providing adequate financial support to Jammu and Kashmir coupled with reforms to come out of the perpetual fiscal stress. I am happy to mention here that to correct the complex fiscal issues of Jammu and Kashmir, a special Central assistance of Rs 17,000 crore has been worked out,” she said.

She said the unprecedented assistance would lead to complete improvement in the fiscal position, enabling the Government of Jammu and Kashmir to correct the legacy of financial challenges and work towards fulfilling the developmental needs and aspirations of the people, while maintaining stable fiscal health.

“As a result of this Rs 17,000 crore Central assistance, the fiscal deficit to GDP ratio will be 3.0% in 2024-25 well within the target,” she said.

She announced that apart from this, a lump sum special grant of Rs 5,000 crore as additional Central assistance is being provided in the current financial year. She added that due to historical challenges in financial management, J&K has a legacy of very high fiscal stress.

“Mr. Speaker Sir, while analysing the fiscal situation of Jammu and Kashmir, we observed that due to historical challenges in financial management, it has a legacy of very high fiscal stress. This is aggravated by the committed nature of the major expenditures not supported by proportionate increase in its revenues. Its dependence on Central grants is to the tune of around 70% of its total expenditure. The perpetual fiscal stress leads to frequent use of ways and means advances and overdraft,” she said.

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SRINAGAR — Omar Abdullah, Vice President of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, while being asked by the reporters on Tuesday to give his reaction regarding the budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that he hadn't had time to review it due to party commitments. However, he was quick to criticize the Centre over the "worst unemployment" crises facing the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.

Abdullah emphasized the severe challenges facing Jammu and Kashmir, particularly the escalating unemployment crisis, which he described as the worst in the country. "I hope to see provisions in the budget addressing the plight of unemployed youth in Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

He also highlighted the Valley's ongoing problems with water and electricity shortages, calling for these problems to be addressed in the Finance Minister's budget speech. Abdullah assured that his party's two Members of Parliament would raise these critical issues if these were overlooked.

Commenting on the Supreme Court's order concerning the Kanwar Yatra, Abdullah criticized the directive of Uttar Pradesh Police in Muzaffarnagar to shop owners to display their names outside shops during the Kanwar Yatra. He stated that such an order should never have existed in the first place.

Condemning the directive of displaying shopkeepers' names along the Yatra route, he argued it marginalizes Muslim shopkeepers in states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.

Drawing a stark contrast, Abdullah pointed out the integral role of Muslims in supporting the Amarnath Yatra in Kashmir and added that Muslims carry Amarnath pilgrims on their shoulders to get a glimpse of the Shiva Lingam. He accused the BJP of sparking religious controversies and victimizing minorities, especially Muslims.

The Uttar Pradesh government on July 19 had made it mandatory for food and beverage shops along Kanwar Yatra routes to display the name and identity of the operator or owner of their establishments. Similar directives had been issued in other states including Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

However, the Supreme Court on Monday stayed the direction issued by authorities, saying in its order that they (shopkeepers/vendors) must not be forced to display the name/identity of the owners and also the employees, deployed in their respective establishments.

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