JK CM asks officials to grant approval to works prioritised by MLAs under CDF scheme

Srinagar, Oct 7 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday directed officials to accord administrative approval to works prioritised by the MLAs under their constituency development fund (CDF) scheme.

Abdullah, who chaired a review meeting here, asked the Finance Department to prepare constituency-wise data of works incorporated in the budget which were prioritised by MLAs and directed districts to immediately upload CDF works on BEAMS, accord administrative approvals and begin early execution of works.

He emphasised close coordination with MLAs to expedite CDF works and ensure visible development outcomes on the ground.

The CM also underlined the importance of enhancing revenue realization and curtailing avoidable expenditure.

"Wherever possible we have to boost our revenues, we have to cut down on all unnecessary expenditure, but at the same time, the money that has been allocated must be spent efficiently in various schemes," he added.

Abdullah chaired a high-level meeting here to review the utilization of CAPEX budget and execution of works under CDF for the financial year 2025-26 across various sectors and progress achieved by departments in execution of works under UT capital outlay.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary and ministers Sakina Itoo, Javed Ahmed Rana, Javid Ahmed Dar, and Satish Sharma.

Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretaries of Higher Education, Jal Shakti, Tourism, Agriculture Production, all Administrative Secretaries and other officials also attended the meeting.

Abdullah reviewed department and district-wise progress under the CAPEX and CDF.

He stressed the need for accelerated execution of projects and timely utilization of funds.

The CM directed departments to ensure 100 per cent uploading of works on the BEAMS portal and expedite administrative approvals and tendering process, particularly in view of the limited working season in the Kashmir division.

He directed the concerned ministers to conduct fortnightly reviews to push expenditure and improve funds utilization in their respective departments.

Earlier, Principal Secretary, Finance, Santosh D. Vaidya gave a detailed presentation providing a comprehensive financial and developmental overview of Jammu and Kashmir as of today.

He presented an evaluation of expenditure progress under the Union Territory (UT) and District CAPEX Budgets, sectoral allocations, revenue trends, fiscal challenges, and ongoing reform initiatives under Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) and the guidelines for execution of works and funds to be expended under Special Assistance for Capital Investment (SASCI) programme.

CM Abdullah passed directions to ensure that the mandatory percentage of expenditure to be made under the SASCI scheme by the end of December 2025 and March 2026 is incurred so that the benefits under the scheme are not squandered.

He asked the ministers to review progress of projects under SASCI every two weeks.

District-wise progress was assessed and it was found that districts need to pay attention towards early execution of works on ground.

Abdullah gave directions for ensuring visible impact on ground and complete the macadamization and black-topping of roads planned during the current financial year.

He exhorted the departments to fill up the vacant posts in engineering departments immediately so that the execution of projects is not affected.

The CM underlined the need to finalise reforms such as revision of mining royalties, establishment of scrapping facility for old vehicles, operationalising electronic enforcement devices for road safety, modernisation and digitisation of land records, reforms linked to agriculture such as farmers registry linked to land records & digital crop survey, urban land reforms, fiscal reforms so that J-K government is able avail funds to be allocated for achieving these milestones from the central government. PTI MIJ NB NB