New Delhi: In 28 months since the abrogation of Article 370, the Centre spent over Rs 9,000 crore, especially on security expenditure, in the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir.

The amount was paid to the Jammu and Kashmir government under the security-related expenditure (police) scheme since the inception of the UT on August 5, 2019, the day when Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, and Articles 370 and 35 (A) were nullified that gave the erstwhile state its special status and the mandate to define its domicile rules.

MHA’s recently published annual report 2020-2021 mentions these facts, mentioning “in order to strengthen the security apparatus, the Government of India has provided Rs 9,120.69 crore to the Government of Jammu and Kashmir under the Security Related Expenditure (Police) scheme since its inception”.

As per the report, the amount includes Rs 448.04 crore that was spent till December 31, 2020 since the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir.

Besides, the report says, the MHA has also approved the raising of five India Reserve (IR) Battalions, two Border Battalions and two Women Battalions for Jammu and Kashmir. “The recruitment has already been completed for five IR Battalions.”

Officials in the MHA told ANI, “The security situation in J-K is monitored and regularly reviewed by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, Army, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and other security agencies”.

“The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) also monitors the security situation closely and continuously in tandem with all the above agencies and the Ministry of Defence. The multi-pronged approach to contain cross-border infiltration also includes multi-tiered deployment along the international Border or Line of Control, border fencing, improved intelligence and operational coordination, equipping security forces with advanced weapons and taking proactive action against infiltrators,” they said.

It also mentions that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also announced a development package of Rs 80,068 crore for the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir under Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP-2015) comprising 63 major projects in critical sectors, namely Road, Power, New and Renewable Energy, Tourism, Health, Education, Water Resources, Sports, Urban Development, Defence and Textile.

Out of 63 projects, the report reads, 54 projects are being implemented in UT of Jammu and Kashmir with an outlay of Rs 58,627 crore.

It says 20 projects have been completed or substantially completed and others are at various stages of implementation.

“As on 30th November, 2020, an amount of Rs 32,136 crore have been released for various projects, out of which Rs 30,553 crore have been utilized.”