Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Wednesday stated the appalling acceptance of the government of India about not having an access to the losses incurred by Kashmir economy post 2015 is an indictment of its nonchalant approach towards the miseries of the people of J&K.
Remarking on the unrelated attitude of the GOI towards mitigating the issues concerning the Kashmir economy, Party General Secretary Ali Muhammad Sagar said the government’s acceptance about its unawareness of the losses incurred by local handicraft, tourism, and industries sectors is reflective of its indifference towards the woes of people of Jammu and Kashmir. “Despite huge losses suffered by local weavers, artisans and other small players in Jammu and Kashmir post august 5th, why didn’t the government initiate any measure to gauge the impact? We also have been flagging the issues continuously on all forums but our repeated pleas were met with cold shoulders. On the contrary photo-opps were sold to us in the shape of development. The recent budget is a continuation of the same unrelated attitude of the GOI towards Kashmir. It was expected that the government would come up with a fiscal stimulus for small players in handicraft, tourism and MSME sectors. The disinclination of the government towards rejuvenating Kashmir economy, if persists, would result in a total freeze of all employment generation, consequently bringing it to a catastrophic end,” he said.
Calling for a preemptive action plan to embark Jammu and Kashmir on the path of development, he said that the primary precursor to it was political stability and an enduring lasting policy framework. “There can be no development unless and until, the inevitable right of the people to have a democratic government in place. Having people’s infringed constitutionally guaranteed rights restored would also diminish the widespread trust deficit between New Delhi and Srinagar. Deliberations with all stakeholders’ including transporters, agriculture, horticulture, tourism, manufacturing and handicraft sectors will also increase the vision of the government to deal with the exigencies which have propped up post August 5. Meantime a comprehensive package for infrastructure augmentation in roads, utility, health and education sector is much needed to reinvigorate growth and development in Kashmir, which has been paused since 2015,” he added.
