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| J&K needs separate plan board: DG Stat | | DEVELOPMENT CONCERNS | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Nov 24: Advocating setting up of a full fledged State Planning Board in Jammu and Kashmir for the sustainable economic growth and development of the state, the Director General (DG) of Economics & Statistics, G.A. Qureshi today urged the government to set up the board at the earliest with noted academicians, economists and scientists as its members who can given their valuable inputs on economy and related issues in J&K.
He was delivering a lecture on the theme "Development Concerns in Jammu and Kashmir" with special focus on poverty issues at an extension lecture organized by the Centre for Adult/Continuing Education & Extension (CACE&E), University of Jammu.
Professor A.N.Sadhu, renowned economist presided over the lecture, while Professor Poonam Dhawan, Director, CACE & E, University of Jammu was also present at the occasion.
Stressing the need to develop tourism, power, handicrafts, horticulture as important sectors in the state, Qureshi said these should be given special attention by the government. Let the government play an interventionists' role and not as a mere developing agency for the massive development of these sectors, he added.
Saying that J&K is a mountainous state and as such, it had its own problems which hindered its economic growth from time to time, Qureshi said due to various problems economic growth in the state was very slow.
"JK's economic growth has been stagnant at 5.4 per cent and we have not been even able to take it to 5.5 per cent despite our hard efforts," he said adding though in the tenth plan, they contemplated to take it higher but could not do so. The national average of economic growth was 7.5 per cent.
Deliberating upon some factors as to why the state of Jammu and Kashmir was lagging behind a desirable growth, Qureshi said the state had its own problems. It fought three –four wars with Pakistan, is faced with militancy and has also faced unprecedented disasters including a consecutive four year drought in early 1990's.
"Besides, there are external threats and political uncertainty in Jammu and Kashmir. Then its topography also results in high investment costs," said Qureshi under whose dynamic leadership, the department came out with two economic surveys which have become important documents for the researchers and academicians besides other persons working in the area.
Focusing on agricultural economy, industrial growth and other related factors, Qureshi said in J&K, 11 lakh workers were engaged as agricultural labour force who contributes towards agriculture production.
Regarding irrigation sector, he informed that of the funds that are made available to the state by the Planning Commission, only 72-74 per cent of these are utilized which shows that state government's performance in irrigation is not satisfactory. Talking about huge infrastructure deficit in terms of road connectivity in the state, he said against the national average of 104 km /100 sq kms the state has just 35 km of road per 100 sq km in Jammu and Kashmir and observed that there is scope for higher levels of investment in road connectivity in the state.
Qureshi also talked about glaring disparities within J&K itself in various sectors. He said while things were better in plain areas, in remote and mountainous areas the figures were even below than the average.
Speaking at the occasion, Professor A.N.Sadhu suggested linkages between the department of statistics and economics with the academicians and economists working at the University of Jammu saying it would bring useful inputs in the work being done by the Department in the area. He also said that the quality of statistics and methodology need to be improved |
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