₹1.42 lakh Cr J-K’s annual budget to cover all sections: LG Manoj Sinha

JAMMU — Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday said that Rs 1.42 lakh crore J&K budget for the year 2022-23 will cover all sections and sectors while there was no question of any disparity or injustice. He said that the annual budget is aimed at bringing peace and prosperity to J&K with real development on the ground.

Addressing a press conference in Jammu to highlight the main contours of J&K’s Budget 2022-23, the LG Sinha said that Rs 1.42 lakh cr budget will cover each and every sector and all sections of the society will benefit from it.

“Horticulture and tourism will be our prime focus. Tourism has been the backbone of J&K’s economy and we will once again ensure that the tourism sector reaches the same height where it was a few decades ago,” the LG Sinha said as per news agency Kashmir News Observer (KNO).

On March 17, the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced Rs 1.42 lakh crore budget for Jammu and Kashmir for FY 2022-23 in the Parliament. The LG Sinha said that this year in September, the world’s highest rail bridge will be ready in Chenab Valley that will connect Kashmir with Kanyakumari.

“Our focus is also on the power sector that has been ailing for past many decades. In the next four years, J&K is all set to become power surplus,” he said.

He said, “Since 1947, all successive regimes could generate only 3450 MWs of power and we are on the path of generating the same amount of power in the next four years only to make J&K a power surplus UT.”

He said that in the ensuing year, the Power Department will install six lakh smart metres in Srinagar and Jammu cities with three lakh in each district. “This is to prevent power theft. People will also get quality and reliable power,” he said.

The LG said that the government headed by him has written to the CBI to investigate the matter regarding allegations of bribery made by former J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik. “We want everything to be clear as people of a high rank have made such allegations,” Sinha said.