Government stands by its commitments for Jammu & Kashmir: Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said the government stood by its commitment for the "equitable development" of the three regions -- Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh -- of the state.

"We want to implement the Rs.80,-crore economic package of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the equitable development of the three regions of Jammu and Kashmir," Jaitley said, replying to the budget debate in the Lok Sabha.

He said that the government was committed to set up various institutions, like IIT, IIM and AIIMS, announced earlier for the state, which has been under the central rule since January 7 when chief minister Mufti Mohammed Saeed died in a Delhi hospital.

Saeed headed the coalition government of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, his daughter and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti has been dragging her feet over the government formation with the BJP demanding concessions from the central government, including more funds and some power hyrdro projects to be transferred to the state government.

Currently all power projects in the state are being owned and run by the central government's National Hyrdro Power Corporation (NHPC). The state gets some royalty from these powers plants, which the PDP also wants should be revised.

--Indo-Asian New Service

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