JAMMU: Expressed his dismay over the diversion of plan grants for non-plan purposes by the Jammu and Kashmir government, the Principal Accountant General Audit (PAG), Subhash Chander Pandey Saturday said ‘J&K’s own deficit is on a constant increase and the revenue deficit has not been brought down as required by the FRBM Act’.
Pandey was addressing a press conference here regarding recently released Comptroller and Auditor General audit reports for 2012-13 and 2013-14 for the state.
Pandey suggested that J&K government should strictly  adhere to Financial Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act enacted by the state.
He, according to an official statement, said 80 percent of state’s expenditure goes into the payment of salaries, pensions, interests and power.
However, Pandey said the VAT remissions and stamp duty collection in the state have shown an upward trend during the past four years. Addressing a press conference here, Pandey also said the J&K’s own tax revenue has shown a steady increase, particularly the commercial taxes.
Pandey also said that owing to increase in tourism and other economic activities and improving tax compliance, there has been satisfactory growth in the revenues from state’s own taxes, which are at a level of 7.7 percent of GSDP in 2012-13. He said there has been record mobilization of commercial taxes and stamp duties and the state’s own revenues have shown a very high growth.
The PAG said the state has financed 26.3 percent of its total expenditure in 2012-13 from its own resources, up from 23.6 percent in 2011-12.
Pandey said the intentions of the government to diversify the state economy is a welcome step and suggested greater thrust on areas like tourism, agriculture and industries. He also suggested creating an industry friendly environment in the state is much needed. He suggested the need of power sector reforms adding that should continue to be a priority area for the state government.
During the press conference, Pandey presented the highlights of the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for 2012-13 for the government of J&K.
Pandey said the mandate of the CAG is not merely fault finding but to draw the attention of the government to areas of concern and suggest remedial measures to improve government functioning and accountability.
Manish Kumar, Accountant General; Pushpa Devi, AK Mehra and T Kashim, Deputy Accountant Generals were also present during the press conference.

Reader correspondent