J&K gets ₹700-cr for rural road networks

The Central government has allocated ₹700 crore for developing 3,000-km roads across Jammu and Kashmir for the year 2019-20 under the Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) scheme. The Union rural development ministry has issued an order before the imposition of code of conduct for the upcoming Parliamentary electioneering. The state of J&K has to contribute 10 percent as its share and the remaining funds will be released by the Central government. Till date, the Central government has allocated ₹22,000 crore for construction of roads across the country under PMGSY during 2019-20. However J&K has urged the government to provide additional allocation for land acquisition, citing the state's meager financial resources and has demanded ₹1724 crore for land acquisition as special dispensation under the PMGSY scheme. Under Phase X-XII of the PMGSY scheme, the centre has not provided funds for land acquisition, as was done for earlier phases. Since the inception of the scheme, 3,501 connectivity projects, including roads and bridges, have been taken up in J&K at a cumulative cost of ₹12,800 crore.