J-K to spend Rs 350 cr for sports infra: Governor Malik

In a bid to give a massive push to public infrastructure in the state, the Jammu and Kashmir Governor administration has approved a state budget for the fiscal year 2019-20. The budget was approved by the State Administrative Council (SAC) headed by Governor Satya Pal Malik.

The budget focuses on boosting sports infrastructure for the youth in the state, in which Governor Malik said that Rs 350 crore would be spent for the development of separate sports and games disciplines, apart from improvements in education, power, transport among others.

"The total budget is Rs 89,000 crore. Most importantly for youth, we are going to spend Rs 350 crore for developing sports infrastructure. For education, we have approved a new university in Leh called Ladakh University. 40 new colleges will be established in the state with a budget of Rs 250 crore. IAS, KAS, NEET and JEE coaching facilities would be provided for students. Separately, Rs 1,000 crore has been allocated for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Benches, desks and drinking water will be provided in all the schools, the Governor told ANI.

Governor Malik said that the budget has been doubled for agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry, while adding that Rs. 130 crore and Rs. 25 crore have been allocated separately for the development of tourism and arts and culture sectors.

He further said that Rs 300 crore has been allocated for balancing work (repairing of power lines) in the power sector. "The development expenditure is the highest ever, that is around Rs 10,000. The deficit is under control and wasteful expenditure has been stopped," Governor Malik said.

Talking about the need for strengthening public infrastructure, Governor Malik said that Rs. 1,500 crore has been set aside for drinking water purposes, Rs 1,000 crore for delayed road projects to be completed, Rs. 500 crore for sewerage maintenance due to crisis in Jammu, Srinagar, Pahalgam and Gulmarg and Rs 100 crore would be allocated for Jammu and Srinagar cities.

Governor Malik further underlined that in an aim to give a boost to the health sector of the state, Rs. 100 crore for equipment has been set aside, while Rs 50 crore will be spent on replacing old buses.