Srinagar, Feb 17: To guarantee that Jammu and Kashmir is completely prepared to host the G20 summit events later this year, the Lieutenant Governor’s administration has decided to keep a separate provision of funds for this big event in the budget.
According to a top official in the Finance Department, all the Administrative Secretaries have been informed of the government’s decision and have been urged to keep some budgetary provisions to satisfy the funding requirements for planning and organising this event.
They said that during a recent review meeting, Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta gave the departments the order to be completely ready for this occasion.
“For the successful conduct of the upcoming event of G20 Summit, the Chief Secretary directed all the administrative departments to be fully ready and carve some provision in the budget for the upcoming G20 summit as the event will be showcasing India’s Pride and Performance,” reads a note of the minutes of the meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary.
“As one of the G20 events is likely to be held in Srinagar city in May this year, the Jammu and Kashmir administration is making ‘advance plans,’” a senior official said adding there would be many events in mid of this year as part of India’s G20 presidency although the dates have not yet been set.
“Due to the probability that Srinagar will host a G20 event this year, the administration has established an exception to the rule that prohibits construction activities in Kashmir during winter due to the subfreezing temperatures,” he said. “The muck and dust that gather by the roadside over the winter have been removed, as usual in late April each year by men and equipment.”
The official said that since this was the first G20 summit to be conducted in a union territory, hosting the event would be a “moment of pride” for Kashmir.
To oversee the planning for the G20 summit that would take place in J&K, the J&K administration has formed a 16-member committee.
India is expected to host over 200 G20 meetings during its yearlong presidency of the influential group, which would culminate with an annual summit on September 9 and September 10 next year.
The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum of the world’s major developed and developing economies.
It comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US, and the European Union (EU).