Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on Thursday passed the Demands for Grants for six key departments through a voice vote after a day-long discussion in the House during the ongoing Budget Session 2026.
The House approved allocations of ₹7,462.91 lakh for Information Technology, ₹54,389.17 lakh for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA), ₹3,798.68 lakh for ARI & Training, ₹12,646.11 lakh for Transport, ₹68,009.76 lakh for Youth Services and Sports and ₹18,972.06 lakh for the Science and Technology Department.
Winding up the debate, Minister Satish Sharma thanked members for their participation and said their suggestions would help strengthen policy decisions and improve implementation of schemes.
He said improvement in governance was a collective process. “Through dialogue and constructive criticism, we can strengthen the functioning of departments and ensure efficient public service delivery,” he told the House.
Administrative reforms, digital initiatives
Highlighting the role of the ARI & Training Department, the minister said it was working to promote a responsive and citizen-centric administration through administrative reforms and inter-departmental coordination. He informed the House that a single-window online portal for processing Recruitment Rules and an online NDC system had been launched to reduce paperwork and delays.
He added that the government was also working on constituting a J&K Administrative Reforms Commission to provide strategic direction for long-term governance reforms and expand capacity-building programmes and digitisation initiatives.
Food security, PDS reforms
Referring to FCS&CA, Sharma said Jammu and Kashmir had fully implemented the Government of India’s SMART Public Distribution System, including ration card management, supply chain management and the Mera Ration mobile application.
He informed the House that 16.4 lakh households comprising 67.39 lakh beneficiaries receive free foodgrains under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, while Antyodaya beneficiaries get 35 kg per household and priority households receive 5 kg per person per month free of cost.
The minister said 100 percent fair price shop automation had been achieved across the Union Territory and the government was working with the Centre for additional allocation of foodgrains to resume ration card bifurcation.
He also said a digital consumer grievance platform, e-Jagriti, had been launched to enable paperless complaint filing and case tracking.
IT infrastructure, transport reforms
On Information Technology, Sharma said the department was expanding digital governance through faceless, paperless and cashless service delivery and proposed setting up IT parks in Jammu and Srinagar besides strengthening the State Data Centre and hybrid cloud systems. Integration of the BHASHINI platform would enable multilingual access to government services.
In the transport sector, he said online driving licence corrections and doorstep delivery of licences had been introduced. The Institute of Driving Training and Research at Kot-Bhalwal, Jammu, has begun operations, while electronic fitness testing and a vehicle scrapping policy are being implemented.
He said 200 new buses would be added to the J&K Road Transport Corporation fleet and green mobility initiatives, including zero-emission vehicles, were being planned.
Renewable energy, science and sports
The minister said 7,500 government buildings had been solarised and work on more sites was underway, while solar pumps and model solar villages were being developed under national schemes. A 100-kW floating solar project on Dal Lake has also been commissioned.
He added that biotechnology parks at Kathua and Handwara were being developed and the Regional Science Centre in Srinagar was nearing completion
Highlighting sports initiatives, Sharma said 60.85 lakh youth had been engaged in sports activities during the current financial year and 92 Khelo India Centres were operational across J&K. He said 216 playfields were completed and new sports infrastructure projects, including youth hostels and academies, were underway.
The minister assured the House that issues raised by members would be examined on merit and the departments under his charge would continue to work with commitment and accountability.
Earlier, several MLAs participated in the discussion and later withdrew their cut motions following the minister’s assurances.
