With an objective to get more cities and towns of Jammu and Kashmir to be covered under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme, Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control, Ch. Sukhnandan Kumar today called on Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and sought relaxation in the guidelines of the scheme.Members of Parliament Jugal Kishore Sharma, Shamsher Singh Manhas, Fayaz Ahmed Mir and Nazir Ahmad Laway also accompanied the Minister during the interaction with the Union Minister.
Ch. Sukhnandan brought to the notice of Union Minister that there are many towns in the state which don’t have sufficient population to qualify for the scheme, but they are in urgent need of basic amenities like water supply, sewerage and urban transportation. He requested him to relax the norms in case of Jammu and Kashmir being a hilly State which have tough terrain. As per the guidelines of the the AMRUT, the scheme covers only those cities and towns which have a population of over one lakh with notified municipalities including cantonment boards besides, cities classified as Heritage Cities under HRIDAY scheme.
The cities and towns from hilly states, islands and tourist destinations (not more than one from each state) are also covered under AMRUT scheme. Thus, only three cities of J&K including Jammu, Anantnag and Srinagar are being covered under this prestigious scheme of Ministry of Urban Development.The Union Finance Minister assured him that the issue would be taken up in the next Cabinet meeting to address the concerns of the Jammu and Kashmir in implementation of AMRUT scheme.