SRINAGAR: Six years have passed since the 2014 floods ravaged Kashmir Valley, but scores of affected are yet to get the relief money the JK Government had promised them.
According to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, tabled in Parliament last month, an amount of Rs 5.48 crore meant for 2014 flood victims remains undisbursed. The payment of compensation in favour of flood victims in September 2014 was to be made through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) by the DDOs into the account of beneficiaries.
As per the CAG report, the financial institutions were required to credit the amount of compensation directly into the bank account of the beneficiaries as per the details communicated in the Bank Advice. But the record compiled till February 2019 has shown that the compensation payments had not been credited into the beneficiaries’ bank accounts. The reasons were incomplete or incorrect details communicated to the Bank by eight DDOs out of 58 DDOs of revenue department selected for an audit by the CAG.
“As a result, an amount of Rs 5.48 crore was lying undisbursed (March 2019) in the bank accounts of these DDOs apart from interest earned,” the CAG said in its report.
After the 2014 floods, all components of the economy – agriculture, industry, and services – began to show negative growth, which continues even today. The spiralling unemployment continues to remain an issue in 2021, with nothing on cards that will provide sustained employment in near future.
According to an economic survey report, the share of agriculture and allied sectors fell from 24.74 percent in 2015-16 to 2.49 percent in 2016-17, rising slightly to 8.37 percent in 2017-18.
A relief package plan was made to help people rebuild houses, and help businesses restart again. In 2015, a six-member relief committee headed by deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh had categorised traders into Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh loss categories. For the former, the government has given up to Rs 50,000 and for the latter up to Rs 1 lakh.
Another Rs 80,000 crore relief package was announced by Indian PM Narendra Modi in which Rs 800 crore was earmarked for traders. Then J&K finance minister Haseeb Drabu had told Kashmir Reader that traders who suffered losses of above Rs 10 lakh will also be given their share of relief, once the traders whose losses are less than 10 lakh are cleared. It was never given later.
