Riyaz Bhat
Srinagar, Feb 6: In the past five years, Gulmarg Development Authority (GDA) has never utilized a fully allocated budget and funds—raising a question on the functioning of the tourism development authority.
The official figures reveal that the expenditure of the budget of every fiscal of those five years from 2019-23 was never accomplished.
In the year 2019 the government has allocated a budget of Rs 607.73 lakhs and Rs 609.38 lakhs respectively.
However, the Public Information Officer (PIO) of GDA in a reply to Right to Information (RTI) application filed by the activist M M Shuja has said that the expenditure in the fiscal year was only Rs 166.73 lakhs and Rs 276.88 lakhs respectively.
Similarly, the official figures reveal that in the year 2020, a total budget of Rs 603 lakhs were allocated to GDA out of which the total expenditure was Rs 377.64 lakhs.
Likewise, in the year 2021, the concerned authorities have allocated a total budget of Rs 627.68 lakhs out of which the GDA has utilized lakhs.
The official figures further reveal that in the year 2022, a total budget of lakhs were allocated to the GDA. However, the concerned authorities had utilized only Rs 503.13 lakhs.
According to the PIO, in the year 2023, a total budget of Rs 325.03 lakhs was allocated for the GDA out of which the expenditure was Rs 198.29 lakhs.
Stating the revenue generated by the GDA in the past five years, the PIO said that in the year 2019, it has generated a total of Rs 63,90,000.
It reveals that in 2020, a total revenue of Rs 8,47,100 was generated by the GDA followed by Rs 97,30,000 in 2021, Rs 21,12,4000 in fiscal 2022 and Rs 18,73,38,000 in 2023 respectively.
