Yogesh
Jammu, Feb 6: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday said that it is in the interest of Jammu & Kashmir to be self-sufficient, but reaching that point would not be an easy journey and would require difficult decisions.
Addressing a post‑budget news conference here, the CM said that he would like to see Jammu & Kashmir in a position where it is self-sufficient and does not have to rely on the Government of India.
“I don’t have a categorical answer to that. I cannot put it in terms of years-one year, two years, or five years. The problem is endemic; it is not a recent issue. The scale of the problem has grown, and certain events have taken it even further,” the CM said when asked about when J&K would be able to fix its financial position.
He said fixing J&K’s fiscal health is not going to be easy.
“To bring Jammu & Kashmir to that point will require difficult decisions. It may not be painless, but I believe it is in the interest of Jammu & Kashmir, and in the interest of its self‑respect, to be in a position where we are not dependent,” he said.
On being asked about the limited increase in the size of the budget for 2026–27, the CM said that 2025 was a difficult year due to the Pahalgam attack and floods.
“This year was difficult for us. We were hopeful about an increase of 5 to 10 percent, but we suffered massive losses due to Pahalgam and floods. We are hopeful that we will bring growth back on track this year,” he said.
The CM said the Baisaran Pahalgam terror attack and the floods were the two biggest challenges faced by him in 2025 as head of the elected government.
“We faced two major challenges last year. One was the Baisaran attack, in which many precious lives were lost. The attack created a war‑like situation between the two countries. There was no sector of our economy that was not hit. Every sector was affected—hospitality, industry, services. We could not earn what we had expected,” he said.
The CM said the floods of September–October 2025 were also a difficult phase for his government.
“The second challenge was the September–October floods, especially in Jammu due to heavy rains, which proved to be a very difficult phase,” he said.
He added that the Centre has sanctioned Rs 1430 crore as a relief package for permanent restoration of infrastructure damaged by floods. “We will judiciously use these funds for reconstruction,” he said.
The CM further said that the abeyance of the Indus Water Treaty has not yet translated into benefits for Jammu & Kashmir. Jammu & Kashmir should have benefitted from the abeyance of the Indus Water Treaty, but that has not happened yet. The power projects-whether Ratle, Kiru, Kwar, or Pakal Dul-are ongoing projects. There is no change in their scope, design, or water‑holding capacity. There will be no change in the generation capacity of these projects. It would, however, be beneficial for us in new projects if there are no restrictions of the Indus Water Treaty on us,” he said.
