Mehbooba views Govt's business with RBI as 'surrender of autonomy'

BoD holding special meet in Mumbai on Jan 29th to discuss overdraft issue

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Jan 22: Even as Jammu & Bank is planning to discuss key investment issues, including the state Government's Friday agreement with Reserve Bank of India, in an extraordinary meeting of the Board of Directors in Mumbai on January 29th, PDP President Mehbooba Mufti today viewed Omar government's direct dealing with the central bank as "surrender of the state's autonomy".

Informed sources told Early Times that J&K Bank was likely to discuss in detail the issue of state government's liquidity of Rs 2700 Cr overdfrat coupled with the government's decision of direct dealing with the RBI. Sources said that following its decision to liquidate Rs 1000 Cr of the voluminous overdraft from the special assistance received from 13th Finance Commission, Government had decided to resolve its cash crunch crisis with direct support from RBI. BOD was likely to discuss consequences of this significant decision of the government that owns 53.17% equity of the bank.

Bank's key functionaries and some of the Directors on Board are now scheduled to fly to Mumbai on January 26th and 27th so as to prepared to discuss agenda of the meeting. Minister of Finance, Abdul Rahim Rather, has already made it clear that the government's agreement with the RBI was in no way a decision to weaken J&K Bank. According to him, it was part of the government's strategy to come out of the cumulative debt trap that consumed a major portion of the state's plan assistance received from the Cenre and its own resource mobilisation.

Notwithstanding Mr Rather's interpretation, the principal opposition party, PDP, today reacted sharply to the exclusion of J&K Bank as bankers to the state government. In a statement PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said, “It is the latest and most lethal nail in the coffin of state’s autonomy by National Conference. The decision removes the last fig leaf that the ruling party tried to cover its real intentions and duplicity with.”

Mehbooba said the decision is an enslaving mechanism for the state government that is already reeling under the economic deprivation and begging bowl syndrome caused by the sell out of resources by successive NC governments.

“J&K Bank is not only a flagship financial institution of the state but it represents the ability of our professionals to script great success story” she said expressing her apprehensions that the new arrangement could be the first step towards its liquidation as a state owned company.

The PDP president said while NC’s Autonomy resolution never made its way out of the then ally L K Advani's shredder, on ground the party seems to be doing everything to further surrender whatever had remained of it. “That becomes evident from the clear RBI statement that the decision was taken at the request of the state government.”  

Mehbooba said intellectual capital, natural resources, fiscal stability and freedom are the essences of any self respecting people. “NC in line with its heritage continues to uproot these cornerstones, be it by way of chronology or dynasty. The decision about J&K Bank is reminiscent of the surrender of rights over water resources in 1952 to New Delhi and the right of state legislature to amend its own constitution in July 1975 immediately after Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah came back to power as a price for it,” she said.

Mehbooba alleged while the historic U turns and lack of vision of the NC ensured intellectual growth was stunted Farooq Abdullah settled the natural resources debate forever by handing over the most feasible power projects to NHPC. “And now Omar seems to be dedicated to give up the remaining, she added fearing the banking changeover could prove a huge setback to the state in terms of achieving self sufficiency and economic self sufficiency,” she added.

Mehbooba said NC's political history can hardly boast anything by way of institution building, but JK Bank was perhaps the only prime institution that professionals from the state developed and could be proud of.

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