Srinagar: General Secretary of the Jammu and Kashmir Central Contractors Coordination Committee, Farooq Dar, has urged the authorities to ensure the full utilization of allocated funds in the current financial year to prevent them from being wasted. In a press conference, he expressed concerns that due to the current trends and slow progress, there is a risk of 40% of the funds being unspent.
Dar stated that out of the budget of 1.18 lakh crore rupees for this financial year, approximately 22,600 crore rupees were allocated for developmental works. However, this amount has not been fully utilized so far. He blamed the sluggish pace of work on the inefficiency of officers, particularly the officers in charge and those holding additional charges in the engineering departments.
According to Dar, officers with additional charges often have excessive workloads and cannot dedicate their full attention, leading to delays in development projects and causing hardship to the public. He emphasized that Jammu and Kashmir received the highest budget allocation this year, but due to non-utilization of funds, the developmental vision of the Lieutenant Governor has been impacted.
Dar further highlighted that several departments, including Irrigation, Jal Shakti, Public Works, and Urban and Rural Development, have assigned additional charges to engineers. He pointed out that there is no shortage of capable engineers, but their promotions have been delayed, and they are not being appointed with full authority. Additionally, transfers in engineering departments have not taken place for years, leading to a situation where officers treat their positions as permanent fixtures.
Dar cited the example of the Kulgam Irrigation Department, where Engineers where not transfered , and transfers have been stalled for unknown reasons. He appealed to the Chief Minister to intervene in this matter and use her authority to improve the functioning of the engineering departments. The press conference was also attended by Ashfaq Ahmad Khan, Umar Javed, and Mohammad Imran.
