Centre okays Rs 1,102-cr flood package for J&K

New Delhi/Jammu, January 30

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today approved a rehabilitation package for restoration of public infrastructure in the flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir.
The decision was taken after Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra met Rajnath Singh here today.
Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami said that Rs 1,102.56 crore had been sanctioned from the National Disaster Response Fund to meet expenditures incurred by the state government for the immediate restoration of public infrastructure.
A sum of Rs 20 crore has been sanctioned from the National Rural Drinking Water Programme and Rs 634.99 crore have already been spent on immediate rehabilitation in the
wake of floods.
The J-K Governor will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow and is likely to discuss the current political developments relating to government formation in the state.
This will be Vohra’s first meeting with the Prime Minister after the state came under the Governor’s rule on January 8.

The Governor today had separate meetings with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Home Minister Rajnath Singh. He discussed with them financial crisis being faced by the state government and measures being taken for the relief and rehabilitation of flood victims of Jammu and Kashmir.
The state was hit by devastating floods during September last year badly crippling its economy. Consequently, the state now has empty coffers with liabilities swelling to over Rs 2,000 crore.  The Governor apprised the Finance Minister of the situation in the state. He said the state government continued to reel under the burden of huge structural negative Balance in Current Revenues (BCR) which has grown over the years.
The damages have adversely impacted the pace of economic activity in the state. This was leading to erosion of state government revenues, Vohra told Jaitley. The FM assured the Governor that the state government’s financial difficulties would be immediately looked into with sensitivity.  It was decided that a team of senior officers from the state government will meet the Secretary, Expenditure, in the Union Finance Ministry so that the state government’s requirements are addressed in a time-bound manner, said an official spokesperson.
Before meeting the Finance Minister, the Governor had addressed a detailed communication to him regarding the crisis. The Governor had highlighted that the scale of relief admissible under State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) was inadequate. This was not enough even to partially repair the damaged houses.
The Governor had called for substantial enhancement in the scale of relief to enable the affected families to carry out the essential repairs, keeping in view high cost of material and labour in the  Valley.

State reels under severe financial crisis

• The Governor had separate meetings with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Friday
• He discussed with them severe financial crisis being faced by the state and steps undertaken for the relief and rehabilitation of flood victims
• The state was hit by devastating floods during September last year, crippling its economy
• The Governor is expected to meet the PM on Saturday to discuss the prevailing political scenario in J-K