In Jammu, on February 9, the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly witnessed disruption after PDP legislator Waheed Ur Rehman Para accused the government of pushing the Union Territory into debt by implementing the SASCI scheme.
Para, accompanied by his party colleagues and Independent MLA Sheikh Khurshid, was countered by the National Conference, leading to heated exchanges. Mubarak Gul, who was chairing the session, attempted to maintain order, but the debate continued.
BJP members stood up and staged a walkout, accusing the chair of not allowing party members to speak about the budget. Some members tried to enter the well but were stopped by security personnel.
Para accused the ruling dispensation of pushing Jammu and Kashmir into debt. He stated that the Chief Minister (Omar Abdullah) and NC MLAs were boasting about bringing the Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI) to the UT. He claimed this was not a welfare scheme but a debt trap that would mortgage J&K to industrialists.
He added that the National Conference had a mandate to protect the interests of Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 and to reclaim the state.
Para urged the CM to reconsider the scheme, warning that J&K should not be pushed into a situation similar to that faced by "failed states like Sri Lanka and Pakistan."
Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary refuted the allegations, accusing opposition leaders of "playing to the gallery" and politicizing a financial assistance framework intended for development.
While the chair was trying to pacify the situation, BJP members objected and tried to enter the well, alleging that they were not being given adequate time to speak. They eventually left the assembly.
The PDP legislator raised concerns over governance and budgetary performance, stating that while people had high expectations from the NC government, Jammu and Kashmir was facing "unprecedented times."
He acknowledged that the challenges before the NC government were immense, and that such challenges had not been faced by any government in the past seven decades.
He said the present government was operating under serious constraints but that public expectations remained high and could not be ignored.
Referring to last year's budget of Rs 1.40 lakh crore, he stated that nearly Rs 40,000 crore was earmarked for revenue expenditure while capital expenditure stood at around Rs 7,600 crore.
He questioned whether the government was capable of spending nearly Rs 1 lakh crore within this short period.
He claimed that only about 12 per cent of expenditure had been achieved so far and alleged that around 100 projects recorded zero spending, including in critical sectors such as agriculture, horticulture, health and education.
He said that allocations were meaningless unless institutional bottlenecks were addressed. He urged the government to explain whether the failure to spend was due to dual power structures or administrative paralysis.
Highlighting the social crisis, he said that nearly 70 per cent of the population comprised youth, with about 32 per cent reportedly suffering from depression.
He demanded the refund of approximately Rs 50 crore collected as fees, questioning how families were expected to arrange such amounts as the unemployment rate in J&K is highest in the country.
He also flagged substance abuse, claiming that around 5 lakh people were affected by drug addiction and nearly 4 lakh by alcohol abuse, while alleging that the budget failed to accord priority to the issue.
He also described cancer as a "silent pandemic" claiming thousands of deaths without adequate response and questioning the silence of the government on this issue.
The legislator further raised concerns over the closure of 215 schools linked to banned Jamaat-e-Islami, affecting nearly 50,000 students, and sought a detailed explanation for the decision.
He pointed out that there was no allocation for a National Law University in the budget and criticised the government for failing to take a decision on setting up deemed universities in all 20 districts as an effort to prevent targeted attacks on Kashmiri students outside J&K and the alleged failure of the government to protect them.
He also flagged rising diesel and transport costs, mounting financial pressure on the population, and the lack of focused support for orphans and other vulnerable sections.