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| Horticulture deptt spends Rs 3.50 Crore on salary, earns Rs 16.33 Lakhs | | Locals seek CM's intervention | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, Oct 9: Information sought under Right to Information Act (RTI) has exposed complete financial mismanagement in District Horticulture Office Budgam. The department according to official information has spent more than Rs 3.50 Crore on the salary of its 10 staff members posted in its fruit plant nursery cum orchard at Gopalpora. Irony is that inspite of spending such a whopping amount on salaries of its employees, the department has only earned Rs 16,33,715 as revenue during the last 15 years. Details available with Early Times reveal that a 90 kanal Fruit Plant Nursery cum Orchard is in shambles at Gopalpora in central Kashmir's Budgam district. The orchard has become a cesspool due to official apathy and mismanagement.
Except few gardeners most employee are mostly absent in the nursery. Information sought under Right to Information Act (a copy of which lies with Early Times) reveals that 10 employees are posted in this nursery which includes a Senior Technician, 2 Horticulture Technicians (Grade II & IV), 3 Gardeners and One Chowkidar. The monthly salary of these employees amounts to Rs 3 lakhs at an average and every year Govt spends Rs 36 lakhs on the salary of these ten employees.
At an average if the salary for last 15 years is calculated @ Rs 23 lakhs per year, the total amount spent on salary of these 10 employees amounts to more than 3.50 Crore, while as on an average mere Rs 50,000 to 60,000 have been generated as revenue by the Horticulture department from this nursery from the sale of fruit plants and fruits.
"Apple growers in the nearby villages earn Rs 70,000 to 1 lakh every year from 1 kanal of land, how is it possible that mere Rs 20,000 to 30,0000 at an average would have been generated as revenue from a 90 kanal orchard? The officials posted in Gopalpora nursery should be jailed and dismissed from service for this mis-management.
I have only seen few gardeners in this nursery who are the locals , and other 5 to 6 officials i have never seen "says Mohammad Maqbool an apple grower from nearby Nagam village.
The said horticulture nursery cum orchard has turned into a marshy land as rainwater in the area along with underground water coming out from residential houses in the area gets accumulated in the nursery / orchard . This has lead to huge growth of Typha Latifolia (Pech) in the nursery thus turning this beautiful orchard into a marshy land.
Locals have been requesting authorities to come to their rescue as they are facing serious problem of water-logging from last two years. The water logging has destroyed large part of the horticulture nursery as well from last 2 years, but the department is least bothered.
Locals say that Government could earn at least Rs 70 to 80 lakhs as revenue annually from the 90 kanal orchard /horticulture nursery, but due to mismanagement the whole land has been virtually turned into a forest. The 90 kanals orchard / nursery is not able to generate even Rs 1 lakh revenue annually for the department.
Locals have appealed Chief Minister who also holds portfolio of Horticulture Ministry to intervene into this issue. |
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