AC creates CSF, GRF to meet liquidity challenges

Jammu, Jan 21: To meet the fiscal challenges and liquidity constraints, the Administrative Council which met here under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Sunday approved the constitution of the Consolidated Sinking Fund (CSF) and the Guarantee Redemption Fund (GRF) for meeting contingent liabilities of the government with an initial corpus of Rs 30 crore for each fund.

The Administrative Council also approved the absorption of 145 permanent employees of the Centaur Lake View Hotel and took note of the Project Design Report (PDR) on Competitiveness Improvement of Agriculture and Allied Sectors Project in J&K (JKCIP) and progress made by the J&K Agriculture Production Department till date.

CSF is a reserve fund set aside by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The provision for this fund is made in Article 266 (1) of the Indian Constitution.

The Consolidated Sinking Fund is to aid states and Union Territories (UTs) wherein the government has problems handling their finances, including debt.

CSF promotes economic restructuring in states and UTs, especially those with chronic remuneration obligations.

A GRF is established in the Public Account of India for redemption of guarantees given to PSEs, and financial institutions, by States and UT government whenever such guarantees are invoked.

When the borrowing organisations fail to service their debt burden covered under the State Government Guarantee, the lending banks and financial institutions invoke the State Government Guarantee.

This becomes the liability of the state government.

The Guarantee Redemption Fund should be utilised for meeting the payment obligations arising out of the guarantees issued by the J&K government in respect of bonds issued and other borrowings by the UT-level undertakings or other bodies and institutions.

The Administrative Council also approved absorption of 145 permanent employees of the Centaur Lake View Hotel, Srinagar in Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC), Jammu and Kashmir Cable Car Corporation Ltd (JKCCC) and Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation Ltd, Srinagar (JKTDC) with effect from March 1, 2023, instead of May 22, 2023.

This is in pursuance to the process of outsourcing of the assets of the Tourism Department.

The Administrative Council in its decision dated May 22, 2023, had approved the absorption of these employees with effect from May 22, 2023, and Government Order No 86-JK (TSM) of 2023 dated July 12, 2023, was issued on this behalf.

The matter was examined by a high-powered committee constituted under the administrative mechanism for resolution of disputes by the Department of Legal Affairs, Government of India and recommended by the committee constituted by GAD vide Government Order No 536-JK(GAD) of 2023 dated May 2, 2023, and also as per the concurrence of the Finance Department.

The Administrative Council also took note of the Project Design Report (PDR) on the Competitiveness Improvement of Agriculture and Allied Sectors Project in Jammu and Kashmir (JKCIP) and the progress made by the J&K Agriculture Production Department to date.

As per the proposal, JKCIP would be implemented in J&K in 90 blocks across all 20 districts over the next 7 years with the support of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to the tune of 100 million USD.

The goal of the project is to contribute to the sustained increase in incomes of rural households by improving the competitiveness of farming operations.

The project objective is to improve the competitiveness of the farmers through a value chain approach covering production, value addition and marketing coupled with business incubation with startup and agri-enterprise support.

The total outreach of the project will be 3 lakh households of which 1.41 lakh will be women (47 percent), 90,000 youth (30 percent) and 30,000 vulnerable communities (SCs and STs 10 percent) in total reaching 1.5 million individuals.

The project will have four interlinked components - climate-smart and market-led production; agri-business ecosystem development support, support to vulnerable communities, and project management.

The project would support the establishment of 45 new FPOs and the strengthening of 56 existing FPOs.

It would also support the training of 1085 trainers and 16,200 farmers, 800 water management systems, 1650 protected cultivation units and the expansion of niche crops in 2805 hectares covering 14,025 farmers.

The project, in consonance with the mainstreaming priorities of IFAD, supports the most vulnerable groups comprising STs, SCs, and fisher folks to diversify their livelihood options and increase their levels of income.

Advisor to LG, Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar; Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo; and Principal Secretary to LG, Mandeep Kumar Bhandari attended the meeting.