SRINAGAR: After receiving no assistance from the Government of India (GoI), business bodies in Kashmir have sought suggestions from people for revival of the economy.
Since August last year, businesses in Kashmir have been facing unprecedented losses due to a state of extended lockdown. Some businessmen are short of capital while others are at the verge of bankruptcy, unable to repay loans taken from banks.
The Chairman of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has now invited suggestions from people to help out in this economic crisis.
“If the course of our lives collectively be shaped by the coming of this disaster and essentially how we respond to it, it is only fair that we call on all its stakeholders, creative people to give ideas, and a plan about what must be done to revive Kashmir economy and boost its growth. The ideas can be shared on [email protected] or on 9419009643,” KCCI chairman Ashiq Ahmad wrote on the organisation’s social media account.
“We know what we have suffered, and how we have survived. We have learned that the need is to reduce dependency on outside. There is a lot of scope for a number of ventures but the marketis still fed by outsiders. We have sought ideas in this regard so that the young generation can take them up,” Ahmad said while speaking to Kashmir Reader
The move is perhaps for the first time that ideas from common people have been sought for the economy’s revival. No such thing was done even after the devastating floods of 2014, the 2016 uprising, or extended last year’s shutdown.
Last week, almost 40 trade bodies in a joint presser publicly said that the Government of India has not taken any measures for the revival of Kashmir’s economy, despite assurance by the Union Home Minister and Finance Minister. The bodies also said that traders of Kashmir haven’t been included in the Rs 20 lakh crore financial package announced by the GoI to tide over the Covid crisis.

Junaid Nabi Bazaz