890 Central laws applicable in J&K after abrogation of Article 370, says Sitharaman

|HT|

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday presented a ₹1.42-lakh-crore budget for Jammu and Kashmir for the year 2022-23 in the Lok Sabha. Tabling the budget, Sitharaman said abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir that granted special status to the erstwhile state has led to the application of 890 Central laws. "What was denied to people of Jammu and Kashmir for over 70 years will be given to them," she said amid opposition from other parties that accused the government of rushing the proposals through Parliament.

Scrapping the Article 370 has also "enabled that which Dr (BR) Ambedkar gave for the rest of the country – SC/ST (laws) are now available for people of J&K," she further said.

"1,198 startups have been registered in J&K. More than 200 startups funded till now," she said, adding, " ₹143 crore given to MSME units in J&K under Emergency Credit Guarantee Scheme during Covid-19 pandemic."

Sitharaman also presented the supplementary demands for the year 2021-22 totalling ₹18,860.32 crore for the Union Territory and moved a motion seeking suspension of certain rules to allow the House to take up the discussion on the same day. Opposition MPs, however, objected to the government's move to present the J&K budget and discuss it in the House on the same day, contending that members will not get adequate time to study the proposals.

Congress leader Manish Tewari said the government has not been able to achieve the objectives it set out while abrogating Article 370. He also asked the government about restoring J&K's full statehood.

On August 5, 2019, the Narendra Modi government had revoked the special status granted under Article 370 of the Constitution to J&K. The government also divided the state into two Union territories, while promising to restore the statehood at an "appropriate time."

In October last year, Union home minister Amit Shah said the statehood of J&K will be restored soon after the delimitation, followed by elections.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)