Srinagar: More than a month after Self Help Groups (SHG) of engineers who were doing developmental works on nominal profit margins were disengaged, the government has constituted a committee to examine how their contribution was valuable to Jammu and Kashmir.
An order issued by the General Administration Department said that a five member team led by one of the advisors to the Lieutenant Governor will look into all the matters related to the SHG scheme.
The panel, according to the order, will study minutely details including background of creation of the scheme, the reservation of works, the extent of utilization, the number of SHGs working and the impact on quality and cost of the projects.
It will also examine the pros and cons of the scheme to suggest the future course of action about engineers in the public interest.
Thousands of engineers were engaged as contractors by the government since 2003 under the scheme which not only provided sustainable employment but also reduced the cost of expenditure on the state exchequer.
According to the President of Self Help Group of Engineers Association Syed Parvez Hussain, the engineers were only making one percent of the profit to the entire works allowed compared to the traditional contractor who makes about 2 percent. This, he told Kashmir Reader, was reducing the cost of expenditure.
Their disengagement has come at a time when the Kashmir economy is on crumbs and has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 40000 crore which is half of the J&K’s GDP.
The government, Parvez said, should first have taken into consideration how the groups are contributing to the development before abolishing the scheme.

Junaid Nabi Bazaz