Jammu, March 14 (Scoop News) – Leader of the PDP Legislators in the Legislative Council Murtaza Khan today took Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather to task for misleading the House by giving wrong figures in his budget proposals.
Participating in debate on budget, Murtaza Khan pointed out discrepancies in the figures given by the government in its Economic Survey Reports of year 2009 and 2010. These reports prepared by the government are full discrepancies. “You give given wrong information to the House”, he told the Finance Minister and said that information provided in the Legislative Council are fit case for moving breach of privilege motion against the Finance Minister.
He pointed out that the State Government in its Economic Survey
Report has stated that Rs 88.22 crores have been spent on Budhser Hydro electric project till November 2010 but the figure given in monitoring unit of Prime Minister was Rs 80.46 crore till February 23, 2011 on the same project. “This is glaring example of misleading statements”, he said and also quoted figures given on expenditure of Sawalakot-Dharamkund road.
Terming the budget as disappointing document, Murtaza Khan said that no proposal has been proposed in the budget for sub-regional and backward areas of the State.
He said that budget presented by Finance minister was not more than a directionless document because there is nothing new in the budget and this document lacks concrete road maps to solve the burning problems confronting the State. He said that the budget present by the Finance Minister does not address the basic problems of the people.
“Instead of concentrating on the problems being faced by the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Finance Minister is more particular about taking credit of the projects sponsored by the Centre government”, he said.
Pointing towards the provisions made in the budget, Khan said that all such proposals as cosmetics and unrealistic. The Finance Minister has not proposed any proposal to increase growth in the State which is in hopeless situation. Furthermore, the Finance Minister has failed to give any roadmap for controlling fiscal deficit.
Khan said that during the debate on last budget, PDP had suggested some measures to to reduce dependence on the Centre on account of finances but nothing has been done so far. He especially mentioned towards proposal of “Debt Swapping”.
“If repayment of loans and interests on loans continued to rise like present, a day would come when the State had to pay more to the Centre than what it received in the form of plan”, he said.
“You need to tell the Union Government that investment in J&K is not just for development but it is investment in peace”, he suggested the Finance Minister.