Jammu, May 7: With Jammu and Kashmir almost half way through its `limited working season’, the annual plan for the current fiscal is nowhere in sight as the state is yet to get any indication from the Planning Commission of India (PCI) for the same.
The state government has projected Rs 6600 crore as the annual plan allocation in its budget presented and passed by the state legislature for the current financial year but the `allotment’ is yet to be approved by PCI.
Though the officials claimed that the non-finalization of the annual plan has not impacted the developmental scenario in the state, sources said that most of the centrally sponsored schemes may face delay due to the shortage of funds.
 According to sources, officials in the state finance and planning department were earlier expecting to start finalizing the department-level demands in the first week of April but till now no communication has been received in this regard.
If sources are to be believed, the bone of contention is the slow utilization of the funds by the state on various centrally sponsored projects during the past, for which the central government has already reprimanded the state.
“Though the allocation has been approved verbally PCI, it is nevertheless studying all the aspects of fund utilization on various projects and achievements targets in the state. This is major cause of delay. Every penny being released to the state undergoes close scrutiny now”, said an official of the finance department.
As per the procedure, officials first meet with the working groups (WG) of Planning Commission to dwell on various projections made by different departments to meet their requirements. Later the final meeting is held by the Deputy Chairman Planning Commission with a high level team from the state government, usually headed by the Chief Minister.
However, when contacted, Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather underplayed the delay on part of the PCI. “There is no need to worry as delay was due to pre-occupation of the centre in assembly elections being held in different parts of the country”, he said adding, “We are expecting the meeting dates anytime this month. Actually the Government at the Centre was busy with polls, while we were busy in shifting of Durbar. It is not a big issue”, Rather said.
However reliable sources say that during past few years planners in New Delhi are not happy with the financial management of the J&K and they have clearly showed their displeasure.
Observers believe that even if the first round of meetings start this month, the state may not get the allocation earlier than July leaving the state with only two months to execute the development works in most of the hilly areas.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 7 May 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 7 May 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 8 May 2011 00:00:00 IST