Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 10: Federation of Industries, Jammu (FoIJ) in a meeting held under the chairmanship of its Co-Chairman, Rajesh Jain expressed its concern over the callous attitude of the administration towards the local existing MSME sector.
“On one hand Lieutenant Governor and its team are working day and night to bring the new investment from outside the UT and on the other, the administration is turning deaf ear to the woes and grievances of the existing MSME sector,” FoIJ said.
J&K Govt has withdrawn purchase/preference provided to the local/micro/small manufacturers through industrial policies of 1995, 2004 and 2016 for the procurement by the various Governments/agencies. The withdrawal of price/purchase preference has left hundreds of local/micro/small manufacturers jobless who are engaged in manufacturing of the materials consumed by various Government departments such as PDD, PHE, Education, Social Welfare, Forest, Flood Control etc. These units were established to cater the requirement of such departments. It is pertinent to mention here that the purchase preference is still available in most of the developed states where as it is being denied to the entrepreneurs of J&K UT.
FoIJ is also worried by with the proposal of hike in power tariff by JPDCL. The proposed power hike shall not only hit the existing industry but also send wrong signal to the upcoming investors for which Govt is putting all its efforts. FOIJ at various fora raised his voice against the proposed power tariff hike. It seems as if local existing industry is being deliberately targeted by proposing the hike to the tune of 70%.
It is pertinent to mention here that FoIJ had a meeting with Lieutenant Governor of J&K UT and presented the demands. The LG listened patiently and responded in positive. He assured FoIJ delegation that their grievances shall be resolved by the concerned authority very soon but FoIJ is constrained to say that nothing has been heard from the administration so far. Even minor issues which don’t attract any financial implications are also not being resolved.
If the grievances are not resolved at earliest the existing industry shall die ultimately rendering the lakhs of people unemployed alongwith the employers.
Prominent among those present in the meeting included Jitender Aul, president, Digiana Industries Association, Deepak Dhawan, president Birpur Indusries Association, Tarun Singla, senior vice president, BBIA, SB Abrol, senior vice president, AoI, Gangyal; Virendra Jain, secretary general, FoIJ; Viraaj Malhotra, convenor, FoIJ, Balram Gupta, vice president, AoI, Gangyal, Ajay Langer, vice president, BBIA, Rajesh Jain, secretary, BBIA, LS Puri, Treasurer, AoI, Gangyal and others.
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