I Ahmad Wani
The budget Omar Abdullah presented for 2026-27 carries a headline figure of ₹1,13,767 crore. On paper it looks impressive. There are a few headline-giving measures – free LPG cylinders for some poor families, a bit more ration for those already on the PDS list. In certain circles these are being called steps toward relief. But when you talk to people in the markets of Srinagar, Jammu, Anantnag or Udhampur, the conversation quickly shifts from those sops to the heavier load the same budget is putting on ordinary shoulders.
Most families here are not impressed. They see rising costs, stagnant wages for many, youths still without proper work, hospitals short of medicines, schools needing repairs, and roads that turn into rivers every monsoon. Against that backdrop, a lot of what is inside this budget feels like it misses the point.
And yes – everyone still wants full statehood back. That demand is not going away. But before we get there, the first lesson has to be how to run things properly right now. You cannot hand over more power to a system that already struggles to manage what it has. This budget is a mirror. It shows where the priorities really lie.
Debt That Keeps Growing
The total loans hanging over Jammu and Kashmir right now stand at ₹1.37 lakh crore. That is bigger than the entire yearly budget. Break it down and it comes to more than ₹1 lakh of debt for every man, woman and child living here. Go back to 2015-16 and the figure was roughly half that – around ₹57,000 crore. In ten years it has more than doubled.
Where does the money for day-to-day running come from? Only about one-third of the budget is raised inside the UT through taxes and other local sources. The rest – two-thirds – depends on outside help: fresh borrowing, grants straight from Delhi, and money tied to central schemes. That kind of dependence is dangerous. It means tomorrow’s bills get paid with today’s promises, and eventually someone has to collect more taxes or cut services to square the account.
People in tea shops put it plainly: “They borrow like there is no tomorrow, but it is our kids who will pay.” Hydropower, tourism, apple orchards, saffron, minerals – all these could bring in real money if handled right. Instead the budget gives mining just ₹4 crore for new works. That tells its own story.
Fuel Prices Up, Everything Else Follows
The new cess on petrol and diesel is the part that has hurt the most. Diesel goes up ₹2 a litre from next April. Anyone who runs a truck, a taxi, a tempo, or even a small generator feels it immediately. Prices of vegetables, milk, cement, bricks – everything moves up. Opposition MLAs have called it straight anti-people. They ask why the government did not put the extra duty on liquor, cigarettes or fancy imported items instead of hitting fuel that every household needs.
One shopkeeper in Batmaloo said it best the other day: “They hand out a cylinder free on one side and make sure we pay more to bring the cylinder home on the other.” The joke is bitter, but it lands.
Then there is the Darbar Move coming back. It was stopped in 2021 and saved maybe ₹200-250 crore every year. Now it is restarting. Moving files, staff, furniture, security twice a year – that money could have gone toward keeping prices down or fixing leaking school roofs. Instead we are going backwards.
Where the Money Actually Disappears
Look at the breakup and nearly 60 paise out of every rupee goes to salaries, old pensions, interest on loans, and paying back what was borrowed earlier. That leaves only 40 paise for new roads, new hospitals, new schools, new factories, new jobs. That ratio has not changed much in years. It keeps the government running but does very little to move the economy forward.
The electricity department is still deep in trouble. It borrowed ₹28,000 crore in the past to clear old dues. Because of that the debt-to-state-income ratio climbed from 48 per cent ten years ago to 52 per cent now. Losses in the lines are still high. Without proper metering and theft control, the only options left are higher bills or more blackouts. In villages people say: “They promised cheaper power. We got higher meters and the same darkness.”
Jobs That Stay on Paper
The budget talks about creating one lakh jobs. Everyone has heard that before. But where is the real plan? Educated unemployment is hovering around 46 per cent. Boys and girls with degrees are driving cabs, selling on the roadside, or sitting at home. Industrial plots for new entrepreneurs were held up last year. Red tape still chokes anyone trying to start something small. Daily wagers, SPOs, people on contract – they keep waiting for regularization that never comes.
A college student in Pulwama told me last week: “Every budget promises rain. Every year we stay dry.” That sums it up.
Health, Schools, Floods – Left Behind
Hospitals are short of everything – beds, machines, doctors. Only 45 psychiatrists for more than one crore people when stress, anxiety and depression are everywhere. Families end up paying huge amounts privately. Education gets talked about but the money is never enough for proper labs, libraries or teachers in far-off areas.
Disaster money is stuck at ₹279 crore – same as before. Floods come, snow blocks the highway for weeks, avalanches hit, yet the fund does not grow. People in south Kashmir say: “When the water rises the budget stays small.”
No Real Plan for Standing on Our Own Feet
Tourism is still limping after Pahalgam and other incidents. Handicrafts, horticulture, small businesses – they needed targeted help that is not really there. Old promises like 200 free units of electricity or cheap gas cylinders have either not happened fully or come with so many conditions that they feel meaningless.
One trader in Residency Road put it this way: “Talk is cheap. Results cost money. Right now we are only getting talk.”
Wrapping It Up
This budget keeps a zero revenue deficit on paper and throws in a few direct-help schemes that look good in press releases. But when you add it all up – the debt mountain, fuel taxes hitting the poor hardest, money locked in salaries instead of new works, no clear path for jobs, neglected health and education, it feels more like treading water than swimming toward shore.
The Bharatiya Janata Party calls it disappointing. The People’s Democratic Party says it offers no hope. Traders, students, daily workers – almost everyone has the same complaint: it does not lighten the load; in many ways it adds to it.
We all want statehood. That is not in doubt. But statehood on top of weak governance is just a bigger version of the same problem. What people need first is a government that spends wisely, raises money smartly, creates real jobs, and treats both regions fairly. Until that changes, budgets will keep coming and going, and the average family will keep asking the same question: when does our turn come?
