Karra skips CM Omar’s pre-budget consultation meeting

Srinagar: Barring Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) chief Tariq Hamid Kara, seven Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Srinagar attended the pre-budget consultations meeting convened by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah here on Wednesday.
During the two-hour-long meeting with the MLAs at Civil Secretariat here, threadbare discussions were held regarding the development in their respective constituencies and other issues including education, unemployment and the public grievances.
All the MLAs from across Srinagar except MLA Central-Shalteng and Jammu & Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) Chief, Tariq Hameed Karra attended the meeting with the chief Minister.
The MLAs told a local news gathering agency that every issue being faced by the people were raised and the priority has been given to the widening of roads, making Srinagar developed. “The upgradation of infrastructure in schools and sports fields’, were also raised,” Ahsan Pardesi, MLA Lal Chowk said.
He added that the issues being faced by the people associated with the stone quarry were also raised by him in the meeting.
Shameema Firdous, MLA Habba Kadal, said that the priority issues related to health, education and roads were raised during the meeting. “We have discussed the road widening and other basic issues. Srinagar has been given a name of smart city, which doesn’t exist, thus we raised the demands to make Srinagar smart,” she said.
Pertinently, this was the fifth pre-budget consultation meeting chaired by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah ahead of the Budget Session in Jammu and Kashmir, which is slated to begin from March 03.
Earlier, the chief minister met traders, hoteliers, tour operators and people associated with the education sector to get their suggestions for the upcoming budget.