Most of them say that they will have to close down their business establishments permanently.
Srinagar: Kashmir is in need of an immediate Central financial package as the markets have failed to see any cash flow despite easing of restrictions in the unlock phase.
Most business community members say that they have not seen any business for almost a year now and the Central government should provide a separate financial package or most of them will have to permanently close down their business establishments.
The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) recently said that if the Centre does not come to the rescue of the business community in Kashmir, it will not survive. It held a joint press conference in Srinagar, giving details of the financial hardship in the markets of Kashmir.
KCCI president Sheikh Ashiq told the media in Kashmir that they have been excluded even from the special package of Rs 20,000 crore recently announced by the Central government to tide over problems being faced by the business community in the entire country hit by Covid-19 lockdown.
Shiekh Ashiq said that the business community in Kashmir is under severe financial stress for the past 10 months and needs an immediate separate financial package to remain afloat. KCCI is the umbrella organisation of over 30 trade bodies of Kashmir and has been very vocal in the recent past for financial intervention by the Central government.
“The Kashmir business community has been suffering for the last 10 months and we are continuously under lockdown. We have met the Union Home Minister and Union Finance minister and MoS PMO regarding the losses faced by the traders. We have brought to their notice the challenges being faced by the business community in Kashmir. We were expecting good results from those meetings, but the Covid situation has made things difficult,” Sheikh Ashiq said at a joint press conference of all trade unions.
He said that even the first phase of unlock one has shown no results in the markets as there is no cash flow in Kashmir, “because we have seen a continuous lockdown for the past 10 months and is still continuing.”
Iqbal Ahmad, Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA) vice-chairman, said: “We have approached the state governments in the past, they heard us; many packages were given in the past. I will not deny that, but when Rs 80,000 crore was announced for Jammu and Kashmir after floods, a small amount was given to the business community here,” he said.
Industrial units in Kashmir valley have virtually closed down their businesses as the government is not intervening.
“We are under huge stress. We have borrowed money and our accounts are bad. The authorities are not allowing us to avail benefits of schemes, including the new Rs 20 lakh crore package announced by the Central Government, as our stressed accounts debar them from qualifying for the guidelines,” said Bilal Ahmad, one of the unit holders at the Khonmoh industrial unit on the outskirts of Srinagar.
Contesting the various government orders passed by the UT administration, traders say that all the benefits are for new unit holders and officers are paying no heed to make amendments in these orders so that incentives can come to the old unit holders too.
Recently, PHD Chamber J&K Hoteliers and Industrialists met the Prime Minister, Finance Minister and Home Minister, appealing for a special economic package for the UT of Jammu and Kashmir. PHD Chamber Chief Baldav Singh Raina told the media that they had pleaded with all details with the Central government for an immediate package as there has been no business in Jammu and Kashmir in the past 10 months.