Union Budget has nothing to revive economy of J&K: Tarigami

Srinagar

Senior CPI (m) leader and former MLA Kulgam Mohammad Yousuf on Sunday said the Budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was disappointing for the people of Jammu and Kashmir as there was no concrete plan in it to revive the shattered economy of the erstwhile state.

Tarigami said the BJP government had been talking loudly about the development in Jammu and Kashmir, but the allocation and the mention in the Budget did not say anything about the mission development.

“There is no policy statement in the Budget. We need something specific in the Budget. Unfortunately, it is the most disappointing Budget for the people of J&K,” the CPM leader said.

He said the Rs 30,757-crore allocation for J&K in the 2020-21 Budget sounded like a mystery. “All businesses in J&K have been shattered post the abrogation of Article 370 last August and there is no mention of reviving them and to assist those who suffered huge losses,” Tarigami said.

According to a recent report of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the disruption since August has resulted in loss of jobs of 1.44 lakh people while the economy has suffered losses worth Rs 17,878 crore.

He said providing employment to the youth had become a chronic issue at the national level and more so in J&K as it lacked any private sector.

“The unemployment level in J&K has reached its crescendo, but instead of finding ways and means to provide employment, the clampdown on internet services and restrictions resulted in huge job losses in Kashmir,” he said.

He further said the horticulture in Kashmir and agriculture in Jammu had suffered massive losses due to heavy snowfall in the Valley in November and rainfall in Jammu. “Not only the fruit, but the fruit trees also were destroyed in snowfall. There is no mention of that or any sort of expression to compensate this sector.”

He said there was no mention about the anganwari workers, helpers, ASHA workers and other scheme workers in the Budget. Some of them are without wages for months together, he said.

“Similarly, there is no mention of road and railway connectivity. How many decades will it take further to connect Kashmir with rest of the country by a dependable road or rail link? The BJP government, which is in power for the last six years, has failed to speed up work on the problematic Ramban-Ramsu axis on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, which frequently needs to be closed due to landslides,” Tarigami said.

He said despite a power crisis in winter in Kashmir and in Jammu in the summer, there was no mention of the power sector in the Budget.“The Centre talks about large-scale investment in J&K but no one is going to invest here when there is no electricity,” he said.

“Thousands of businesses could not pay their staff or keep them on their rolls but the government was least bothered about the sufferings of people,”said Tarigami.

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