J&K Industry Leaders Interact with Union Finance Minister, Demand Separate Industrial Policy for UT

Top industry bodies from Jammu and Kashmir have demanded a separate industrial policy for the union territory.

In a webinar with the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday 8 Sept 2020, the industry representatives said that the Centre has to take prompt steps to save the dying industry and deal with the growing unemployment in the union territory.

According to statement, the webinar organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Peace Forum, presented a grounds report of the situation in the UT.

Sitharaman said that the Centre was keen to listen and understand the ground situation in J&K. “We are interacting with all the stakeholders in the industry and we have been benefitted from this. We want to keep our ears close to the ground and based on the inputs from various stakeholders, policy changes are made.”

She said that the new J&K Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha has also sought greater support and more resources for the UT.

According to the press release, the J&K Peace Forum chairman, Satish Mahaldar said, “The primary objective of the meeting was to understand how we can achieve sustainable industrial development in all regions for increasing the rate of growth, value of output, employment, income and overall economic development of the UT. The trend in the development of J&K is not encouraging; it has been lagging behind most of the states with regard to the growth of the net state domestic product at current prices. J&K UT is one of those regions in the country where both the demographic situation and level of socio-economic development remains far from satisfactory.”

He said it is important to discuss how to revive potential viable sick industrial units so as to put optimum use of the capital and other resources which are already employed in such enterprises. “It is also important to know from the industry experts how we can strive towards balanced economic and social development in all regions of the UT by promoting industrialization,” said Mahaldar.

He cited the case of the J&KSRTC, which currently had only 300 buses to cater to a population of 80 lakh people. He said that if right incentives are given, J&KSRTC can be turned around into a viable organization. He said similarly other ventures in horticulture, etc., can help in generating employment and strengthening the state economy.

Shiekh Ashiq, president of the Kashmir chapter of Chamber of Commerce and Industry said they had been raising the issues concerning the industry with the government but nothing has been happening.

“We met the Finance Minister on March 17 this year but nothing much has happened. Incentives are urgently needed for the revival of the industry in J&K. The past year has seen a lot of suffering, unemployment is growing, artisans don’t have much work, industries and MSMEs are in bad shape. A pile up of inventories has been happening,” he said.