Just 14 posts filled out of total 142 till date
Huge gap between budget allocation & fund utilization
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Mar 6: Several years after their creation, the Jammu Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (JMRDA) and Srinagar Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (SMRDA) are still without Regional Development Plans, which are imperative for coordinated urban planning and integrated development.
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Moreover, both the Authorities are reeling under acute shortage of planners, engineers, financial experts and administrative staff thereby severely hampering their ability to design projects, monitor implementation and ensure proper utilization of funds.
These Authorities were created as per the provisions of the Jammu & Kashmir Metropolitan Region Development Authorities Act, which was enacted by the erstwhile State of J&K and retained by the Ministry of Home Affairs even after the enactment of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, underscoring its continued legal relevance in the Union Territory framework.
“However, even several years after their creation, these Authorities don’t have Regional Development Plans and the draft Request for Proposal (RFP) for preparing the Regional Plans is still under consideration in the Housing and Urban Development Department”, official sources told EXCELSIOR, adding “the absence of Regional Development Plans undermines the very purpose of these Authorities as such plans serve as the blueprint for land use regulation, infrastructure development, transport planning and environmental management in expanding metropolitan regions”.
This is notwithstanding the fact that Section 15 of the Act explicitly mandates the Authorities to prepare Development Plan for the Metropolitan Region, while Section 17 lays thrust on the preparation of a Mobility Management Plan. Likewise, under Section 19, the Authorities are required to prepare a plan for sustainable management of the urban environment.
“In the absence of compliance with these provisions of the Act, the Authorities have largely remained dependent on other departments, limiting their functional autonomy and decision-making capacity”, sources said.
Revealing startling staffing crisis in these two Metropolitan Authorities, sources said that out of a total sanctioned strength of 142 posts, five posts have been filled in SMRDA and nine in JMRDA, severely hampering their ability to design projects, monitor implementation and ensure proper utilization of funds.
“What to talk of filling up of these vacant posts, the Government has, till date, not appointed full time Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of these Authorities and Divisional Commissioners have been given the charge of the Additional Chief Executive Officers”, sources said.
Stating that large portion of funds allocated for SMRDA and JMRDA also remains unutilized, sources disclosed that under Capex, JMRDA received Rs 174.61 crore, but has spent only Rs 58.20 crore while as SMRDA received Rs 192.82 crore, but has spent merely Rs 33.34 crore.
Similarly, under Revenue Expenditure (Revex), JMRDA was allocated Rs 11.79 crore, out of which Rs 4.24 crore has been spent. Likewise, SMRDA received Rs 9.65 crore, but expenditure stands at only Rs 2.66 crore. “The low spending suggests that major portions of allocated funds remain idle, even as several urban infrastructure projects await execution”, sources said.
“These figures raise questions regarding the effectiveness of metropolitan planning mechanism in the Union Territory”, they remarked, adding “the slow progress in finalizing Regional Development Plans coupled with severe manpower shortages and low fund utilization clearly indicates that two Metropolitan Authorities have not been given the institutional capacity required to fulfill their mandate”.
“If the Housing and Urban Development Department really wants to achieve the objective behind the Act, immediate steps should be taken to ensure early formulation of Regional Development Plans, filling up of vacant posts and better utilization of allocated funds”, sources stressed.
It is pertinent to mention here that the primary object of a Metropolitan Region Development Authority is to secure the planned development of the metropolitan region in accordance with an approved Development Plan.
The law empowers the Authorities to review physical, financial and economic plans; examine development projects and schemes at various stages; formulate and execute schemes; recommend policy interventions to the Government and coordinate with other authorities for inter-regional development and overall metropolitan growth.
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