Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti arrived here on Sunday to enquire with the Centre why a “promised special package” to Jammu and Kashmir has not materialised yet.
She is likely to meet BJP president Amit Shah on Monday to discuss the package, estimated at Rs. 70,000 crore. The money was intended to help generate manufacturing jobs and rebuild the shattered infrastructure in the conflict-torn, flood-ravaged State.
Delay in package The delay in the promised transfer of funds to the Jammu and Kashmir government has allegedly created friction between the PDP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the coalition partners that rule the northern State.
However, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav expressed surprise when contacted by The Hindu : “Which package? I have no idea what package you’re talking about. You should check with the government if there is any such package.”
PDP put in an awkward situation
Till early July, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav, who had helped broker a coalition deal with the PDP on behalf of the BJP, had talked about developing Jammu and Kashmir with great enthusiasm.
“The Centre is going to take several big steps to develop all the three regions [Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh],” he had been quoted as saying.
Now, the delay in the package has placed the PDP in an awkward situation, as the party had hoped to run a stable government, pumping in large amounts of money to create an entrepreneurial economy with the capacity to absorb a large chunk of Kashmiri youth.
PDP sources said State Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu had assured the party that about Rs. 1000 crore would come in by mid-July so that it could be spent on compensation and repairs caused by last year’s terrible floods.
Mr. Drabu, who also acts as an arbiter between the two parties, is scheduled to meet Finance Ministry officials on Tuesday.
“Everything was in place till early July,” said a senior PDP leader, adding, “We’d followed the entire administrative process, finalised the modalities with the ministry. It’s hard to imagine what could possibly have happened.”
Another PDP leader and J&K Education Minister Naeem Akhtar told The Hindu that the party was very concerned that the promised funds had not come in: it had not just worsened economic conditions in the State but stoked discontent among those affected by the floods.
“The tie-up [BJP-PDP] was accepted by many people with a lot of reluctance in the hope that it will perhaps at least help the State recover from economic distress,” Mr. Akhtar said.
