NL Correspondent
SRINAGAR: As separatists and militants have threatened not to hold panchayat polls, the Jammu and Kashmir is losing crores of centre's grant in absence of such elected bodies.
Government has said that it would hold Panchayat elections from February 15 this year. At the same time, the separatists and militants have threatened against holding the polls. Sources said that government wants to hold the Panchayat polls so that state does not loose any more funds.
The state has been losing crores of rupees from the Centre's grant because of the delay in holding Urban Local Bodies and Panchayat elections in the state.
The central finance commission devolves funds to local bodies across the country every year. However, in absence of civic bodies in the state, official sources said that Centre has withheld around Rs 1,000 crore to the state in the last seven years.
“The Centre has refused to release funds despite request by the state government that situation was not conducive in the valley to hold polls in the valley for the last several years,” an official of the Housing and Urban Development Department, said.
The Centre has budgeted around Rs 1300 crore to J&K as per the 14th Finance Commission Awards from 2015-2020.
“The state civic bodies were to get Rs 350 crore during 2016-2017 which were not released by the Centre,” the official said.
The official said that state will lose Rs over 250 crore during 2017-2018 if elections are not held in the current fiscal.
These funds are to be spent on water, electricity, road infrastructure, and other civic amenities. The elected civic bodies are mandatory to get these funds.
The ULB polls were held in J&K after a span of 23-years in January 2005. However, the civic polls could not be held since 2011 despite the successive governments set up several deadlines about holding the elections.
Similarly, the state is losing huge Centre funding due to non-holding of Panchayat polls. “J&K will lose over Rs 4000 crore between 2015-2020, if Panchayat polls do not take place,” sources said.
The Centre recently wrote a letter to JK Government that state would lose Rs 2,000 crore in the current fiscal due to non-holding of Panchayat polls, and poor utilisation of funds, sources said.
These funds according to official sources are part of various sponsored schemes.
An official of State Election Commission said that New Delhi has been pressurizing the JK Government to hold the Panchayat polls to evade lapsing of further funds.
The Panchayats completed their term in July last year. Elections to Panchayats were last held in April-May 2011 during Omar Abdullah led National Conference-Congress regime after a gap of 37 years. The government postponed these polls for several times in the last two years.
Meanwhile, a PDP minister said that government is committed to hold civic and Panchayat polls. “The polls were postponed several times due to situation in the valley,” the minister said. “This is fact that JK is losing Centre's funding due to non-holding of these polls. We are trying to ensure that we don't lose further funds,” he added.
