Kashmir Economic Front: The Editorial in the Rising Kashmir Raises Eyebrows

An Editorial in the Rising Kashmir discusses the new organization, but also raises the possibility that financial loss figures being announced by traders recently are inflated and untrue.

Economic Front

The setting up of Kashmir Economic Front , a joint forum of various trade and industrial bodies for framing and espousing strategies to make Kashmir economy self reliant is a welcome step , even if much belatedly taken.

The front shall comprise of industrial and trade bodies including Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Federation Chamber of Industries Kashmir (FCIK), Kashmir Hotel and Restaurant Association (KHARA), Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation (KTMF), Houseboat Owners Association, Kashmir Transporters Federation and Kashmir Flourmills Association as its members.

Besides, it has also been articulated that the front shall also comprise of reputed economists as its members. The formation of the Economic Front comes in the wake of economic blockade that was unilaterally imposed on the valley by Hindu right wing activists by blocking the Srinagar Jammu highway. The front is supposed to come out with strategies for trade, commerce and industry so as to make Kashmir self sustaining on every front.

While the move is a step in right direction, what it calls for is a more organized and broad based set up that encompasses players from varied fields that touch on most of the sectors of the economy. Looking at Kashmir from economic standpoint, it is quite evident that the valley possesses a vast amount of resource base both material and human to embark on the mission of self reliance. The conflict economy of Kashmir has already brunt heavy losses and forming a front only for the sake of it will once again lead to one more abortive attempt of bringing the economy back on track. What it calls for is a more organized effort from the forum and the first thing would be identification of potential sectors that are contributing substantially to State’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP).

For the time there is no disagreement on that power, horticulture, artisan sector and tourism are the areas that present opportunities for capitalization. The forum would do much good to formulate committees for each potential sector identified with members not only from trade and industrial bodies but also experts from the field, bankers and members from civic bodies so as to evolve into pressure group that is to be taken seriously both the government and others.

The trade bodies need to take a lesson from their counterparts across the tunnel that have been forthright in exaggerating their losses while the trade and industrial bodies are still doing their part of thinking to arrive at the estimated losses. Given these conditions formulating strategies for self reliance of Kaashmir’s economy sounds a daunting task.