The World Bank (WB) and Union Finance Ministry would soon undertake a review of the Rs 1500 project funded by the former for infrastructure building and strengthening J&K’s disaster management mechanism.
Progress of the project would be reviewed at New Delhi on December 4-5 by officials of the World Bank and Department of Economic Affairs of Union Finance Ministry.
“The administration of Union Territory of J&K is expected to be represented by Principal Secretary, Planning & Development Department Rohit Kansal and Chief Executive Officer of the Project, Avny Lavassa during the meeting,” the official said.
The meeting was scheduled on October 31, but was postponed at the eleventh hour due to engagement of J&K government officials with transition of the state into Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.
The review is being held at a time when J&K government is pushing for extending deadline of the project beyond its June 2020 deadline.
The Rs 1500 crore project was sanctioned by the international funding agency in the aftermath of devastating floods of 2014.The floods wreaked havoc in J&K causing damage to public and properties worth thousands of crores.
Post floods, a high-level team of World Bank visited J&K for damage and need assessment. After assessing the requirements and holding consultations with officials of J&K government and Union Finance Ministry, the World Bank approved Rs 1500 crore project for the State.
In 2015 and 2016 , the J&K government set-up Project Monitoring Unit and Project Implementation Units for execution of the sub-projects sanctioned under the program.
However, J&K government has come under criticism from the World Bank for poor progress in implementation of the program.
In its periodic status reports, the World Bank has termed progress of the project as unsatisfactory and highly unsatisfactory.
The State’s own Project Steering Committee (PSC) has also expressed concern over slow progress of the project and repeatedly called for expediting execution of the projects.
The steering panel is headed by Chief Secretary and comprises of senior bureaucrats heading different departments including Finance, Planning and Public Works.
In the past four years, J&K has frequently changed Chief Executive Officers of the project, which is cited as one of the main reasons for poor progress of the program.