Authorities assurances of economic development falls on deaf ears in Kashmir

Despite New Delhi’s repeated assurances that the abrogation of the Article 370 and 35-A will bring economic prosperity through outsider investments and employment. Two years down the line, the palpable fear and uncertainty in the Himalayan region region seemingly has prevented outsiders from investing in the conflict-ridden Kashmir region.

According to the InvestJK portal, an online window clearance portal for those applicants who are planning to apply for the allotment of land in long-term leases in Jammu and Kashmir, among the 2,500 applications or more, the online portal received a meger 0.1 percent of applications who were from outsiders which clearly illustrates the reluctance of potential investors in participating in investments.

Mehmood Ahmad Shah, the director of the Industries and Commerce Department in Kashmir, was reportedly quoted as saying that a minimal figure of five to six people from outside the state have applied for allotment of land. Besides the official figures, business bodies are arguing that soon after the state was downgraded into two union territories, in August 2019, the ease of doing business in the region has been tremendously affected. The arrival of global pandemic and the subsequent economic decline coupled with political crisis and back-to-back lockdowns is making way more complications for doing business.

Last December, Jammu’s pharma groups, made pleas to the prime minister Narendra Modi, fearing risk from the entry of corporate houses in the region which they believed would lead to huge losses to as many as eight crore traders across the country.

The political violence prevalent in the region is another major reason, the investors from outside the state are feeling reluctant. Since the abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35 A, a total of 439 militants have been killed in at least 541 militant incidents in the restive region, the Ministry of Home Affairs informed the parliament on February 2, adding, 98 civilians and 109 security forces personnel also lost their lives in the region between August 2019 to January 2022.

According to Kashmir Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI), general secretary Farooq Amin “the prevailing situation discourages start-ups and upcoming entrepreneurs from carrying out business activities in the region that continues to remain submerged in hostilities for years now.”

The situation remains that a high percentage of traders in the Kashmir valley are struggling in deep mental agony because their payments have been withheld by various government departments for the past four years. This dismal treatment happens despite the business community reported to have witnessed repeated losses worth thousands of crores and mass unemployment in the month preceding August 2019. As per KCCI estimates, the Valley incurred losses worth Rs 40,000 crores which is equivalent to USD 5.3 billion. And nearly a million i.e. 497,000 job losses occurred between August to November 2019, the business body noted.

Recently, the announcements of allocation of Rs 35,581 crore to union territory in budget 2022, has impressed KCCI’s president Sheikh Ashiq who has expressed that traders in Kashmir did not see any business support initiatives apparently in Union Budget Allocation. “We are not able to locate any support in the budget even though we were expecting a big announcement for the revival of business here as we have faced certain situations here,” Ashiq added.