Mubashir Aalam Wani
Srinagar, May 28: Jammu & Kashmir couldn’t utilise the funds approved under the compensation afforestation scheme during the last financial year. Of the Rs 276 crore approved under the scheme, only Rs 153 crore were spent on afforestation and allied measures across the Union Territory.
Official documents reveal that J&K fell short of utilising funds approved under Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) scheme in the last fiscal.
The National CAMPA Authority approved Rs 276. 38 crore under the Annual Plan Operations (APO) and Supplementary APO submitted by the J&K Government for undertaking different activities permissible under the scheme.
As per documents, out of the approved amount, the Finance Department released an amount of Rs 238.10 crore to Forest Department.
However, the Forest Department could utilise only Rs 153.67, raising questions on its spending capacity, the documents state.
The issue came under discussion during the 25th steering committee of CAMP held under chairmanship of Chief Secretary Atul Dulloo on April 16, 2025.
In the meeting, officials claimed that implementation of the scheme was affected by elections. “It was informed that due to elections for the Parliament and the UT Legislature and the model code of conduct thereof, the physical targets achieved by the department were marginally lower than the targets,” reads the record note of the meeting.
As per minutes of the meeting, officials claimed that approval of APO also faced significant due to LS polls.
“It was also informed that the approval of the National CAMPA for the year 2024-25 was accorded on 1st July 2024 due to the model code of conduct on account of the general election. This in a way had an impact on the implementation of the APO during the year,” the record note reveals.
