Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday chaired the third consecutive day of pre-budget consultation meetings, reviewing sector-wise priorities and developmental plans ahead of the forthcoming Budget Session of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.
The meetings covered key departments including Jal Shakti, Agriculture, Rural Development, Forest, Food & Civil Supplies, Youth Services and Sports, among others. Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary; Ministers Javid Ahmad Rana, Javid Ahmad Dar and Satish Sharma; Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo; Additional Chief Secretaries Shaleen Kabra (Jal Shakti), Dheeraj Gupta (Chief Minister’s Secretariat) and Shailendra Kumar (Agriculture), along with administrative secretaries, senior finance department officials and other concerned officers, attended the deliberations.
During the consultations, the Chief Minister reviewed ongoing projects, sector-specific proposals and emerging challenges, while seeking focused inputs to strengthen service delivery and development outcomes. Emphasising a departure from conventional budgeting practices, he asserted that allocations must be rooted in “practicality, efficiency and measurable impact on the ground.”
“Budgetary proposals should not remain on paper. They must be practicable and capable of being translated on the ground within defined timelines,” the Chief Minister said, underscoring the need for realistic and implementable planning.
He also stressed inter-departmental convergence to avoid duplication of efforts and ensure optimal utilisation of resources. Highlighting the critical importance of sectors such as water supply, agriculture, rural livelihoods and environmental conservation, Omar Abdullah directed officials to prioritise initiatives that improve infrastructure, enhance service delivery, generate employment and directly address the needs of farmers and rural communities.
The Chief Minister further laid emphasis on accountability and outcome-based budgeting, instructing departments to align their proposals with clear performance indicators to ensure tangible public benefits.
The ongoing pre-budget consultations, officials said, form part of the government’s broader effort to present a people-centric, development-oriented and results-driven budget for the Union Territory.
