Last Updated on January 29, 2022 at 11:12 am
Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged departments who have withheld the payments of entrepreneurs to release the same. Traders in Kashmir are facing mental agony as their payments have been withheld.
Secretary-general KCCI, Farooq Amin, insisted that their payments have pending since last four years and urged that dues must be cleared as some of the units have turned NPA because of this.
Farooq Amin held a meeting of the Micro Small Enterprises Facilitation Council (MSEFC), Kashmir under the Chairmanship of Director, Industries and Commerce Kashmir on January 24 in the conference Hall of JK SICOP, Srinagar.
Farooq requested the Director industries that the matter should be taken to the higher authorities of all those departments who have withheld the payments of these entrepreneurs so that the problems which these entrepreneurs are facing should be resolved.
Farooq further said that these long pending payments must be given with interest incurred during the period. KCCI also put the light on the issue by cautioning that young entrepreneurs can be discouraged who are coming up with their start-ups if this situation continues.
Farooq has since sought the intervention of LG Manoj Sinha and the administration to look into the matter and resolve this pending payment issue
According to KCCI, the J&K UT reported losses worth over Rs 40,000 crore (USD 5.3 billion) just after the government abrogated Article 370 in August 2019. Moreover, due to lockdowns in the Covid-19 pandemic led to severe losses for the traders in the region. Kashmir region has suffered losses worth thousands of crores.
Various business houses promised of providing opportunities but pandemic hostilities and political stalemate, among other factors changed the game. Samiullah, co-founder and CEO of FastBeetle, says no help is coming from any side. “There are so many issues, especially with no easy access to private lending available. There is no ecosystem for start-ups that could help those interested in the sector,” he told NewsClick.
