Senior PDP leader and Member Parliament, Tariq Hameed Karra has accused the NC-Congress coalition government of landing Jammu and Kashmir into a financial mess.“Due to the mismanagement of finances by the present government, the State is facing an unprecedented cash-crunch as the treasuries are running dry and the bills of contractors, GP fund subscribers, pensioners and daily-rated workers are pending payment for months together,” Karra said while addressing a series of thanksgiving public meetings in Beerwa assembly segment of Srinagar Parliamentary constituency wherefrom he was elected to the Lok Sabha.
According to a statement issued Karra said ironically instead of doing any good to the State, the Government headed by Omar Abdullah seems to be hell-bent on pushing J&K into perpetual bankruptcy due to administrative anarchy and rampant corruption promoted by it.
“Fiscal mismanagement and shortage of funds at treasuries has become a hallmark of this inefficient government which is least bothered about the welfare of the people,” he said and added that while there is already a freeze on developmental works in the State, the fiscal crisis is now affecting the routine payments like contractors bills, GP fund, gratuity, pension and salaries as well. Karra said previously the State Government used to cover the temporary gap in revenue and expenditure through borrowing from the J&K Bank, “but everything has changed when this government handed over the management of its finances to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) side-stepping its own bank.”
He said the current crisis on economic, financial and infrastructure fronts confronting the State can't be met with small-time responses of the Government and it will need an enormous effort by the new dispensation in J&K to pull the state out of the mess. Expressing concern over the bad condition of roads, acute drinking and irrigation water scarcity, power crisis, rations shortage looming over entire Kashmir, Mr Karra said the dismaying developmental scenario presents a sad commentary on the performance of this government as it is brazenly sleeping over the issues and not taking steps to mitigate the sufferings of the people which are getting compounded with every passing day. MLA Beerwa Dr Mohammad Shafi also addressed the road-shows.