Srinagar: Indian forces continue to use brutal force to silence Kashmiri aspirations but the struggle of Kashmiri people continues even after yearlong protests against implementation of article 370. “If you are an aspiring industrialist and you want to set up an industry in Jammu and Kashmir, you should know that you are inviting trouble,” says industrialist Aamir Abbas of Lal Bazar, Srinagar.
Marred by a lack of government attention, outdated industrial policies, political conflict and increasing bank liabilities, Abbas (29) had to finally wind up his business unit which manufactured chocolate almond dates in July last year. “During all these years, political leaders from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lured young people under the false hope of entrepreneurship,” lamented Abbas, while talking to The Wire.
He added that the repeated failures of the government to create a vital infrastructure and formulate an attractive policy has pushed J&K’s industrial sector into the worst condition, making thousands of industrial units financially sick. “These leaders give preferential treatment to a few influential entrepreneurs. They have ruined the careers of others like me and made us bank defaulters,” said Abbas.
Abbas is not the only entrepreneur whose unit has turned sick in the valley. The data compiled by the industry and commerce department, Kashmir, claims that 40.82% of the industrial units in Kashmir are currently sick. “Many of my friends who were lured by the government to start an industrial unit in J&K are now suffering from mental stress. During all these years they have only increased their bank liabilities.”
In the Lassipora industrial estate of Pulwama, 30-year-old entrepreneur Sarwar Hussain Malik told The Wire that almost 90% of the units in one of the biggest estates of Jammu and Kashmir are under stress and on the verge of turning sick. “Due to regular lockdowns and curfews, our businesses instead of growing have turned into non-performing assets (NPAs) and more than 30% unit holders have become totally bankrupt in the estate since August 2019.”
Malik, who is also the general secretary of a consortium of young industrialists in Kashmir, sees a bleak future for aspiring industrialists. “Our economy has suffered a loss of Rs 40,000 crore since August 2019. The government had last year promised to provide a Union Territory package for industrialists in Jammu and Kashmir, but so far there is no such package. It seems the government is only making hollow promises,” said Malik. He suggested that the government, instead of giving loans to industrialists, should provide capital infusion and relief packages to revive sick industries in Jammu and Kashmir.
Shakeel Qalandar, former president of the Federation Chamber of Industries Kashmir told media that the government has so far failed to give a fillip to the industries despite forming multiple committees to study their shortcomings. “In 1999, the government had asked the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDI), Ahmedabad, to create a data of sick units in Jammu and Kashmir. It revealed that 87.13% of industrial units in Jammu and Kashmir were sick.”–Agencies
