Anti-Jammu bias in funds? J&K government figures show otherwise | Political Pulse News
The BJP’s politics in Jammu and Kashmir has long rested on the claim of discrimination against the Jammu province in the distribution of development funds. It has little to complain about this financial year. In the 2026-27 financial year, the 10 districts of Jammu received a higher share of the capital expenditure than the 10 districts of Kashmir, as per figures provided by the Omar Abdullah government in the Assembly.
Of the total Capex allocation of Rs 9,566.30 crore in the Union Territory, Rs 5,102.25 crore was for the Jammu division, and Rs 4,464.05 crore for the Valley. Of this, Rs 5,837.91 crore has been released, Rs 3,292.93 crore of that for Jammu, and Rs 2,544.98 crore for Kashmir.
Jammu and Srinagar districts, respectively, have received the highest allocations within the two provinces. At Rs 2,314.35 crore, the allocation for Jammu district is nearly two times Srinagar’s at Rs 1,486.88 crore.
Within the Jammu division, Rajouri has the second-highest allocation at Rs 419.14 crore, followed by Poonch (Rs 400.08 crore), Kathua (Rs 377.78 crore), Udhampur (Rs 361.95 crore), Doda (Rs 318.42 crore), Reasi (Rs 249.34 crore), Kishtwar (Rs 242.93 crore), Samba (Rs 211 crore) and Ramban (Rs 197.20 crore).
A group of Kashmiri women busy at road widening work at Badi-Ningli Village in Sopre of Baramullah district were catching attraction of every passerbye as such work is ususally choose by men in the valley. (Express Photo By Shuaib Masoodi)
In fact, Jammu district alone accounts for nearly half of the division’s projected Capex allocation.
In Kashmir, Anantnag has the highest allocation at Rs 697.05 crore, followed by Baramulla (Rs 468.93 crore), Pulwama (Rs 448.30 crore), Budgam (Rs 287.74 crore), Kupwara (Rs 284.87 crore), Ganderbal (Rs 247.18 crore), Bandipora (Rs 206.97 crore), Kulgam (Rs 184.24 crore) and Shopian, which has the lowest allocation in the Valley at Rs 151.84 crore.
‘Devil’s in the detail’
Politically too, the allocations don’t seem to have fallen along predictable lines. Of the 11 Assembly constituencies in Jammu district, with the highest Capex allocation, 10 are represented by BJP MLAs and one constituency by Independent MLA Satish Sharma, who is a minister in the Abdullah government.
In Srinagar district, which got the highest allocation in the Kashmir division, seven of the eight Assembly constituencies are represented by the ruling National Conference (NC) MLAs and one by the Congress.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is an MLA from one of the two Assembly constituencies in Ganderbal district, which has been allocated Rs 247.18 crore.
Asked about the figures, in the context of the BJP’s claims regarding the allocation of resources to Jammu, particularly the plains districts of Jammu, Samba and Kathua, BJP spokesperson Ankur Sharma said the party did not have details of the district-wise allocations and cautioned against drawing conclusions from the aggregate figures.
“One has to go through the sub-classification of these budgetary allocations before saying anything. The allocation for Jammu division may be more on account of allocations in hydel power projects,” he said. “The devil lies in the details.”
Power projects (Express Photo By Shuaib Masoodi)
BJP Udhampur East MLA R S Pathania said the party’s position was that development funds should be allocated on the basis of development needs rather than a Jammu-versus-Kashmir comparison. “There cannot be parity between Jammu and Udhampur. Likewise, there cannot be parity between Jammu and Rajouri,” he said, adding that Jammu required greater investment because of its larger geographical spread and development requirements.
“We do not believe in a battle between Jammu and Kashmir. We only want a criteria-based allocation and that Jammu gets its share,” Pathania said.
NC provincial president Rattan Lal Gupta accused the BJP of “misleading the people of Jammu” and said facts and figures told “a different story”.
“Even Jammu city has got more funds as compared to Srinagar. Whatever the BJP says, the fact is that the Omar government believes in taking everyone along on the path of development. It does not discriminate on the basis of caste, creed, religion or region,” Gupta added.
Power sector gets lion’s share
District-wise figures also show considerable variation in the sectors receiving funds. In Jammu district, major allocations include Rs 417.51 crore for the Power Development Department, Rs 359.58 crore for the Housing and Urban Development, Rs 279.94 crore for Agriculture Production, Rs 219.83 crore for the Public Works Department and Rs 195.94 crore for Animal and Sheep Husbandry.
In Srinagar, the major allocations include Rs 238.59 crore for the Power Development Department, Rs 224.57 crore for Health and Medical Education, Rs 204.86 crore for Agriculture Production, Rs 152.04 crore for Housing and Urban Development, Rs 119.09 crore for Animal and Sheep Husbandry, and Rs 115.69 crore for Industries and Commerce.
Allocations for other districts across the two divisions also are skewed towards the Power Development and Public Works Departments.
In Anantnag, tourism is among the major sectors, with an allocation of Rs 113.51 crore.
