The Hindu : J&K Plan size pegged at Rs. 2,200 cr.

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Saturday, Jun 15, 2002

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J&K Plan size pegged at Rs. 2,200 cr.

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JUNE 14. The stand-off between the Planning Commission and the Jammu and Kashmir Government on the finalisation of the 2002-03 Annual Plan has finally ended with the Prime Ministerial intervention.

At a meeting held at the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee's residence on Thursday evening, the Plan size for the State was pegged at Rs 2,200 crores, an amount originally demanded by the Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah.

The Planning Commission, on its part, had earlier stuck to a figure slightly above Rs 1,800 crores on the basis of identifiable resources of the State.

The Planning Commission had held a meeting earlier with the J&K administration to decide the Plan size but no final figure could be arrived at since the Commission expressed its inability to fill the gap.

Instead, it suggested that the Finance Ministry should extend this amount to the State as Special Central Assistance.

But because of its own fiscal pressures, the Finance Ministry was reluctant to do so.

It was at the Thursday meeting at the Prime Minister's residence that the Finance Ministry was asked to make good the shortfall in view of the special circumstances prevailing in the State. With the disturbed security situation in J&K, not only has the State administration not been able to mobilise the targeted resources, it has also not been able to spend the sanctioned Plan amount.

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