Stating that both the Central and state governments can’t hoodwink people of Jammu and Kashmir anymore in the name of Prime Minister’s developmental package for the state, senior CPI (M) leader and MLA Muhammad Yousuf Tarigami on Monday said that the so-called developmental agenda of Bharatiya Janata Party is “hollow”.
The 82,000 Crore package was announced and celebrated by BJP and PDP amid much fanfare in 2015. But we have been saying from day one the so-called developmental agenda of the BJP government is hollow, not only in Jammu and Kashmir, but across the country.
Nearly three years after the announcement of the much-hyped Rs 82,452 Crore package, J-K has so far received a meagre 18 per cent funds of the approved amount, he said, we are surprised that despite everything being cleared about this so-called developmental package now, the alliance partners in the government are still trying to hoodwink people of the state.
The package was for five years and in almost three years just 18 per cent funds have been released which makes it amply clear what the intentions of the BJP government are.
The package was nothing but normal allocation of funds for J-K, which the state and Central government tried to masquerade as developmental package.
Now everything is clear before the people what actually it was. While unemployment in the state has reached to alarming proportions, this government has failed to take any initiatives to provide employment to youth.
When PM announced the package in November 2015, he had assured that the funds would not be a constraint in building a modern, progressive and prosperous Jammu and Kashmir.
Where have those promises gone? Most of the Centrally-sponsored projects have been either receiving little funding or in some cases no financial support from the Center which has created a lot of hardships for the people of the state.
Work on vital development projects has come to a standstill and it has affected the livelihood of lakhs of people in the state as well. Power and water supply projects have been abandoned due to the paucity of funds.
In Jammu and Kashmir, the PDP-BJP coalition government has disappointed every section of the society by making tall claims and doing little on ground, Tarigami alleged.