J-K budget a damp squib: JK Cong

Describing the budget presented by the Mufti Mohmmad Sayeed government as "damp squib", Congress today said that there is nothing substantial and new in it.
"Budget presented by Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu can be described in two words as damp squib," Leader of Congress Legislative Party (CLP), Nawang Rigzin Jora told reporters here today.
"There is nothing substantial, nothing new. It is new idiom and new jargon. That is all," he said, alleging, there is nothing for remote regions like Ladakh, although the Governor's Address promised equitable development of all the three regions.
"Let alone Ladakh, I am afraid even Jammu and Kashmir got nothing out of this budget. The common people of Jammu and Kashmir who had huge expectation from this budget cannot but feel let down," he said.

Hitting out at the chief minister for failing to get liberal funding from Centre, Jora said, "One of the main reasons Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed decided to go with BJP in the government formation was to seek liberal funding from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The budget does not reflect so".
"At the end of the day the state has been left to fend for itself. Mufti Sayeed's biggest gamble in life in aligning with BJP, does not seem to be paying fiscal dividends," he said.

"More than Rs 11,000 crore earmarked in the budget for capital expenditure is inclusive of the fiscal devolution under the 14th Finance Commission and will include such centrally sponsored scheme that will not be funded anymore by Government of India," he said.

"As such the state will have lesser money in the kitty than expected. The SME and the small and micro enterprise both of which should have been given incentives have been left high and dry," he added.
"The state does not have heavy industries to talk of. In this background, SMEs should have been helped out. This did not happen," he added.
The former minister said, "Tourism portfolio has been kept by Mufti Sayeed himself and the sector has got extension of incentives as these would lapse this year. The incentives of tourism sector should have been extended for the next 6 years. This has not happened".

"The damage the tourism sector suffered on account of flood last year should have weighed heavily on the finance minister's budget but that hasn't happened. The finance minister himself admitted to spend Rs 10,000 crore on works and capital expenditure of Rs 30,000 crore is being spent on salaries and establishment," he said.
"Nothing has been proposed to restructure this dubious anomaly, he said, adding, apart from Srinagar and Jammu, Anantnag, and Katra have been proposed for smart city. Leh, the third most important city in the state with an airport and attracting huge number of foreign tourist has been deliberately kept out, he alleged.