Cricket is the craze of India and it is catching up fast in the world as T20 cricket has taken the world by storm. With only a dozen countries playing cricket a decade ago, the figure now stands at 160. On the pattern of IPL numerous other tournaments have come up. Associated with cricket is the bat industry, and India is one of the pioneers in this art. Jammu and Kashmir is one of the prime bat manufacturers, and we are proud to say that the longest six has been struck in the IPL with a bat from Kashmir. With crores of people now playing cricket demand for quality bats is on upward for last so many years. Kashmir bat industry is now pegged at a whopping three hundred crore manufacturing lakhs of bats. Bat industry holders are cribbing about willow shortage and claim that this industry will not survive if no attention is paid on increasing the willow tree. This only speaks of a sad state of affairs; a UT with more than 56 percent of forest area has no place to grow more willow trees. With two agricultural universities and GoI’s prime focus on increasing private entrepreneurship, the fact that local administration is not able to sort out this issue is strange and requires immediate attention from the highest authorities. If some technology upgrade, like a modern plant to season willow, has to be provided to these bat industries it must be done with proper guidance and help from GoI. This is the age of competition, and the more time we spend waiting, the more chances we have of losing business. Bat manufacturing is an art and our Kashmir has one of the best artisans in this field. If it is possible to get a GI tag, then departments must assist and get it for the century-old art of Kashmir. It is time to listen to their problems and help them grow more and earn precious foreign exchange for the country. It is a question of one lakh employment, all steps must be taken.
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