Rajouri, Jul 2: The differences between four MLAs of the Rajouri district and Deputy Chief Minister SurinderChoudhary, who also represents the fifth Nowshera Assembly constituency of this district, appear to be deepening over allegations of discriminatory allocation of development funds among the district's five constituencies.
Earlier, Independent MLA from ThanamandiMuzaffar Iqbal Khan, who supports the National Conference-led government, Congress MLA RajouriIftkhar Ahmed and National Conference MLA BudhalJaved Iqbal Choudhary had openly raised concerns over what they termed as inadequate funding for their respective constituencies. They alleged that a substantial portion of funds meant for other constituencies had been diverted to Nowshera, represented by the Deputy Chief Minister.
The issue had also surfaced during a recent National Conference meeting at Dachigam, where MLA Muzaffar Iqbal Khan reportedly raised the matter strongly before Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
The Chief Minister is learnt to have directed Deputy Chief Minister SurinderChoudhary to rectify the alleged imbalance in fund allocation within a month.
However, despite the Chief Minister's reported intervention, the controversy appears far from over.
Now National Conference MLA from Budhal, Javed Iqbal Choudhary, has once again publicly questioned the funding pattern, alleging that development funds are being distributed unfairly among the five assembly constituencies of the Rajouri district.
Addressing the media, Javed Iqbal Choudhary said the Deputy Chief Minister had been entrusted by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah with a significant responsibility and was expected to act as a bridge between the Jammu and Kashmir regions, between the LG Administration and the Chief Minister's Secretariat, and between the Union and the Jammu and Kashmir governments.
" Deputy Chief Minister had failed to justify the trust reposed in him." he said.
Referring to official figures, the Budhal MLA claimed that under the Special Assistance Scheme (SASCI), nearly 63 per cent of the total funds had been allocated to a single constituency, describing the distribution as a serious injustice.
He asserted that elected representatives were duty-bound to safeguard public rights and ensure equitable development rather than remain silent.
He further alleged that under the Non-Functional Buildings (NFB) scheme, out of Rs 128 lakh sanctioned for Rajouri district, Rs 103 lakh had been spent in the Nowshera constituency alone.
According to him, the matter had already been taken up with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who had given the Deputy Chief Minister one month to ensure fair distribution of funds among all constituencies. However, he claimed that no corrective action had been taken so far.
Javed Iqbal Choudhary announced that the three MLAs from Rajouri district would again seek an appointment with the Chief Minister to apprise him of the situation.
He maintained that in the present era of transparency, such issues could not remain hidden and stressed that they were accountable to the people. He said the MLAs would continue to oppose any discrimination in development funding and would keep raising the issue until justice was ensured for all constituencies.