Centre sanctions Rs 1,100 cr for restoration of public infrastructure in J&K

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Friday sanctioned a sum of over Rs 1,100 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund to help Jammu & Kashmir government restore public infrastructure damaged during the floods last year. An additional Rs 20-crore assistance was approved under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme for restoration of drinking water system in the Valley state.
The approvals followed a meeting between Union home minister Rajnath Singh and J&K governor N N Vohra here to discuss the contours of the Rs 41,000 crore special package sought by the state government in view of the devastation caused by the floods.
Union home secretary Anil Goswami disclosed after the meeting that the decisions taken included sanctioning of Rs 1,102.56 crore to meet the expenditure incurred by the state government for immediate restoration of public infrastructure and Rs 20 crore for restoration of drinking water system. The meeting noted that Rs 634.99 crore had already been spent towards immediate rehabilitation of the flood-affected, including Rs 144.85 crore towards food subsidy, Rs 35.67 crore on restoration of highways and roads, Rs 25.41 crore towards petroleum products, Rs 2.52 crore for milk products and Rs 1.54 crore for medicines.
It be recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had, during his Diwali visit to J&K last year, announced a grant of Rs 765 crore from the PM’s National Relief Fund and another Rs 1,000 crore as special assistance for reconstruction of damaged public infrastructure. Singh and Vohra on Friday reviewed the utilisation of these funds.
Regarding the Rs 41,000 crore special package sought by the J&K government, the meeting decided that home ministry would be the nodal authority for all further decisions regarding schemes proposed by the state.
As for the Rs 570 crore grant announced by Modi during his Diwali visit to Sringar, it was noted that after disbursing Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000 compensation for the fully damaged pucca and katcha houses, certain funds would be left unused. The home minister, as suggested by the governor, has agreed to discuss the matter with the prime minister and get an early concurrence for utilisation of the available funds and to suitably compensate owners of severely and partially damaged pacca/katcha houses.
Vohra and Rajnath Singh also discussed issues relating to border management. Singh has directed home secretary Goswami to visit Jammu next week to review the progress of all border development related schemes.