Conflicting Connections

Arshid Malik

The conflict in Kashmir while providing an excuse for people to work lazily – and I am speaking particularly in context of people employed by the government and genetically in context of common people – the establishment in the state has also retrogressively employed the opportunity to blame the turmoil for its failures and this is not the case with any particular political party but all the political parties that have stayed in and out of power. So, in a way the use or rather misuse of the rhetoric of conflict has been subscribed to by the common people as well as different government regimes to their respective points of advantage from time to time. But now the scene is clearer and so to say there is some peace and stability in Kashmir. I used the word “some” in the previous sentence because I happen to be sceptically optimistic. A progressive practical debate has generated all over Kashmir which involves multi-faceted investments in industry and other developmental activities and that is for the common people since they have realized, my personal opinion stands, that countries that subjugate can be pretty cruel and unanswerable at times and this comes in the wake of the offensive of Israel against the innocent people of Palestine and it is wiser to stop lamenting about losses and attempt to build something solid which would prove to be the only saviour in tougher times.

Anyways, I am not out to jump at any conclusions but figuratively speaking what all can an enterprising person from Kashmir do about the economy of the state? Not much, my recent stints of experiences in the corporate sector as an employed professional and as a consequent visitor to government departments. I have seen very enterprising, well-educated and extremely talented folk go to the dogs when they eventually plan to give up hankering after government jobs and decide to setup something of their own. The budding to-be-entrepreneurs of Kashmir meet a very hedonistic agenda as soon as they enter government offices which are supposedly setup to aid the growth of industry in Kashmir. There is an eerie commotion coupled with a distinct smell of death and composite degeneration that haunts the patchily plastered rooms of every government office in Kashmir. Government departments and agencies which have been setup to aid the-to-be-entrepreneurs as for instance the various District Industries Centres, State Industrial Development Corporation, the Directorate of Industries and all other departments which are supposed to get themselves involved in the growth and promotion of the industrial sector in Kashmir are doing anything but that. These agencies are all up and about gobbling up money while costing heavily on the State Exchequer. The very filing of an application form for setting up a new industrial entity ends up as a bitter course meal in the multi-gamut menu. If you were to ask for a sheet of white paper you would be met with sarcasm such as “Ha! You did not even bring your own paper and you are here to set up an industrial unit. Go home, son/daughter and sit in your mother’s lap”. Now this is not an indictment but a case in point which I met while I was visiting a certain government office for some official work. The person is question who was greeted with this discreet sarcasm was discussing industry in Jammu and Kashmir with me outside for sometime before we both entered the office of this particular “sahib” as he had been out for lunch for a couple of hours. Anyways, the budding entrepreneur wittingly bore the sarcasm and then asked for some preliminary sets of application forms which ought to have been ready with the concerned “sahib” for free disposal proved hard to earn while the “sahib” was picking his teeth off the undercooked chicken which he was heartily complaining about. He was told to visit the office the day after since some other “sahib” was on leave and had taken along the keys to the treasure-house of a locker which contained all documents relating to setting up of new industrial units. The budding entrepreneur was truly let down as he had confided in me that he would complete the preliminary formalities that very day as per the notion which he had acquired after studying, deeply, some websites related to the department he was visiting. The subtext of the “sahib’s” message was clear, at least to me. So then, right from filing an application form for setting up a business entity to availing subsidies thereof are out rightly subject to the point whether the particular set of “sahibs” are present or on leave since they have the keys to the treasure-houses of lockers that line up almost every periphery of government offices comfortably like strung corpses. Oh! The smell of death!

Check the website of the Directorate of Industry and Commerce Department, J&K Government and skip to the “About Us” page. The very long paragraphs that adorn this chapter introduce you to the scenic beauty of the state and then take you on a historical tour. No, it is not the history of Industry in Kashmir but about but pure text book history about Kashmir. The “Home Page” draws a descriptive of the vision and mission of this particular department and it goes on to say under the vision, “To promote the balanced growth of Industry & Commerce in Jammu & Kashmir through sustainable utilization of natural resources and development of human skills”. Well, yeah. A preliminary application form for setting up an industry is spawned by corruption at the very root, what balance is it talking about. What has the department done about the utilization of the natural resources of Kashmir except for leasing out beautiful terrain to be devastated for digging up lime stone. The whole thing sounds like a farce in the face of blatant corruption that has seeped to the very foundations of the I&C and its concerned departments especially the DICs. Now go to the SIDCO website and you will find it identically farcical. It says, on the home page, “J&K SIDCO is the nodal agency for promotion & development of medium and large scale Industries in the state. Since its inception J&K SIDCO has acted as a prime mover in the State for promotion of Industrial ventures and thus is playing the role of “Institutional Entrepreneur”.” Promotion of industry, that’s a joke. The SIDCO has almost only played the role of land keeper of the various industrial estates in Kashmir and was deep into minting money by way of second sales and stuff till some wise-head out there in among the policymakers suggested that second sales or outright sales should be stopped. Yes, the subsidy section will put a sparkle in your eyes but wait till you go out to get it. And I am not talking of the “battles” that I&C and SIDCO have engaged in over “who gets what”. Now welcome to the J&K State Pollution Control Board. Pollution is a dear concern of this department and this is what it dedicates its website to. Bear with me, I did not write controlling pollution. I have noticed that every industrial unit that is violating the environmental and the laws that govern the safeguarding of the same are in full production without proper Effluent Treatment Plants and Waste Disposal Systems. It all goes under the hood. All they do, my wild guess is, keep the officials of the SPCB happy which is by way of bribing them. Elsewhere why hasn’t anything been done about the various cement industries which have wreaked havoc on the environment besides creating hazardous conditions for the sustenance of life in some prime cement producing areas of the valley. In the “About Us” page of the department you will find this – “Future Plans: To complete the ongoing infrastructure developmental activities, including the office-cum-Lab of Srinagar; to provide infrastructure with all facilities to all offices & laboratories of the Board; to complete Zoning Atlas for remaining districts of the state; to frame Eco-city concept for Srinagar & Jammu cities; to establish permanent ambient air quality monitoring stations; Up gradation of library facilities”. Controlling pollution figures nowhere till you read the last point which says “Enforcement of cleaner technologies (recover, recycle, & reuse concept)”; hey that sounds like the agenda of the European Union. The “Introduction” page is chit-clean which is some humbug as are all other sections. No charter here; no duties and roles. Well, I guess since this department is corrupt in all its entirety and culprit to the disaster that Kashmir is turning into ecologically they had better keep silent.

That was a web-walkthrough for you. Now, plan a visit. But do bear in mind that we have gone through a conflict!

from Kashmir Life http://ift.tt/1owT3PN

via IFTTThttp://ift.tt/1iGhVXj