₹4,031 Crore In. ₹131 Crore Out. Still Waiting for a Policy

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17 Apr 2026

Fifty-one of fifty-two public undertakings paid zero dividends. The accounts are in arrears. The policy is still being formulated

There are official sentences that explain more than they intend to. One such line appeared in the government’s January 2026 response to the Comptroller and Auditor General: performance targets will be assigned to public sector undertakings, and a dividend policy will be formulated. No timeline. No accountable authority. No measurable deadline. Only the language of postponement. The numbers require no interpretation. Jammu and Kashmir invested ₹4,031 crore of public money across 52 public sector undertakings over five years. It recovered only ₹130.78 crore, roughly 3.24 percent. During the same period, the government borrowed at interest rates far above that return. Public money was raised at commercial cost and parked in institutions delivering negligible value. This is not merely underperformance. It is policy failure. Fifty-one of 52 PSUs paid no dividend. The lone exception was J&K Bank, a listed entity subject to external scrutiny and market discipline. That contrast is instructive. Where transparency exists, returns follow. Where opacity prevails, stagnation deepens. The deeper concern is governance culture. The CAG flagged 139 accounts in arrears across 35 companies, some delayed for over a decade. One corporation has reportedly not submitted accounts since 2010-11. Can any modern administration defend sixteen years of financial silence in publicly funded bodies. Meanwhile, liabilities continue to rise. Legacy obligations remain unresolved. The Assembly concluded without serious debate on these structural weaknesses. This demands correction, not commentary. Every PSU should face annual public performance audits, mandatory audited accounts, and time-bound restructuring. Non-viable entities should be merged, privatised, or closed. Professional boards must replace patronage appointments. Dividend policy should be enacted within a fixed deadline, not endlessly drafted. This issue rises above party lines. It concerns every taxpayer in Jammu and Kashmir and every ministry that speaks of reform. Public enterprises exist to create value, employment, and strategic capacity, not to absorb capital indefinitely. At some point, the promise to formulate policy becomes evidence that policy was never the priority. The taxpayer has already paid. The state must now account.