J&K: Omar Abdullah pitches Rs 1.13 lakh crore budget as growth & welfare roadmap

NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah on Friday announced that the government will provide six free gas cylinders per year and free education till college to the poorest families in the Union Territory, classified under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), besides free bus rides to differently abled persons. He also announced, while presenting the second budget of his government, emergency hospitals and bulletproof ambulances for border areas.

Abdullah said the budget laid strong foundations for enduring economic growth, social harmony and sustainable prosperity. He said the government was committed to transforming J&K into a modern, progressive and economically vibrant region. However, Opposition parties termed the budget a “disappointment” and “visionless document” which ignored 65% of the population under 35 years of age in J&K. The total net budget estimates for 2026-27 are Rs 1,13,767 crore, including Rs 80,640 crore under revenue expenditure and Rs 33,127 crore as capital expenditure. “To reduce the household energy burden on vulnerable families… I propose to provide six free LPG cylinders per year to all AAY households of J&K… I propose to extend full fee waiver to 9th to 12 and UG students from AAY families in government schools and degree colleges,” Abdullah said. He also proposed to extend the existing free government transport facility for women to persons with disabilities.

The CM proposed two dedicated emergency and accident hospitals along the Line of Control, one each in Uri in Kashmir and in Poonch in Jammu, to strengthen critical healthcare infrastructure in border areas which are prone to shelling, cross-border incidents and natural calamities.
After the budget speech, the leader of the Opposition from the BJP, Sunil Sharma, said that the budget was “disgusting” and that Abdullah was riding on the success of the centrally sponsored schemes. People’s Conference MLA from Handwara Sajad Lone said the budget was as bad as the first budget of Abdullah’s current dispensation. “This is a budget by bureaucrats with no political vision. There is no relief for commoners,” said Lone.