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| Border villagers call for bigger financial allocations | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Apr 13: People living in the border areas in this trouble-torn State continue to be dissatisfied with the meagre allocation the state Government has been making for the Border Area Development Project (BADP).
People belonging to the Kathua-Akhnoor belt of the International Border and those living close to the LoC between Rajouri and Uri and on the Line of Actual Conrol in Ladakh area feel that earmarking Rs 10 crores for the BADP annually was a cruel joke for the residents of the belt.
Their view is shared by economic experts saying that allocation of Rs 10 crores in the last two budget proposals had not been sufficient to improve the areas.These experts said that no doubt there were other projects going on in the border areas but the Government should allocate atleast Rs.50 crores for the BADP because the border areas in Jammu and Kashmir constituted about 20 per cent of the total area of the state.
They said that the population in the border villages close to the International Border (IB), LoC and LAC was about 15 per cent of the total population of the state and hence bigger annual financial allocations for the development of roads, sewage, drinking water and electricity supply, better health care and education facilities.
According to these experts the successive state Governments had laid emphasis on the development of urban areas adding that there was need for doing so but not at the cost of the development of the rural areas.
Experts said that three wars, continued border tension followed by a 20-year spell of militancy besides infiltration of militants from across the LOC and the IB had affected farming practices in the border villages.
Till 2003, border villagers had to migrate to safer places because of exchange of heavy but intermittent fire between the Indian and the Pakistani troops.
This would suspend farming practices for number of years in the border villages.
They said that had the Government earmarked bigger sums of money for the BADP every year the agro-based industries would have developed in the border areas. But as a result of weak road connectivity, transport and communication systems and undependable electricity supply the number of rural entrepreneurs were reluctant in setting up small agro-based units in the border areas.
Experts have suggested to the state Government to earmark adequate funds under several categories which could ensure proper development of border areas. In addition to this the state Government needs to prepare a blueprint for various development schemes for the border areas and submit it to the centre for financial assistance. They said that better living conditions in the border villages would ensure not only peace but people's readiness to cooperate with the security forces for eliminating and arresting infiltrators who take shelter in the border villages soon after crossing into the Indian Territory.
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