It may be recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the first of its kind a BPO unit in Bandipora, Kashmir on Feb 3, 2019. The move and the initiative was appreciated and the support of the district authorities was quite evident. The Prime Minister had, therefore, desired that the pilot project needed to be encouraged to be set up in each and every district of Jammu and Kashmir. That was necessary so that in availing of the benefits from the BPO units, this part of the country did not lag behind other states . However, it is more than a year since the first unit was set up, there is no progress in furthering the process of establishing such units in other districts. This could be only due to taking up the issue not with all seriousness it required by the authorities at the district levels and by the Government on the whole.
For construction of a BPO complex, 3 to 5 kanals of land was required and for immediate establishment of the BPO, a work force of 100 professionals was needed, is all the then Managing Director of the Jammu and Kashmir Information Technology Infrastructure Development Private Ltd wanted from the concerned Deputy Commissioners. It is learnt that most of the Deputy Commissioners have yet to take a decision on it. It is intriguing to find, however, that those of the Deputy Commissioners who have already identified such land, no BPO unit could not be established anywhere.Has any meeting in respect of the issue taken place to assess the progress and review the preparations, if any, at least in respect of where land etc was made available and also sought to know what actually was keeping other district authorities from moving ahead. This is the outcome of the level of response from the district administrations to what the Prime Minister desired in respect of the subject matter which is undesirable .The ‘anticlimax ‘ of the entire issue is that much of financial factor was not going to be any stumbling block since District Development Commissioners could avail of the financial assistance under BPO Promotion Scheme of Government of India .
The same lackadaisical approach of the Government is seen in respect of establishment of first ever dry port in Jammu and Kashmir to attract direct foreign investment. It had gained its importance by being duly mentioned in the General Budget for 2018-19. The land for it too was identified in Kathua district. Importance of a dry port or an inland terminal for Jammu and Kashmir, is for more reasons as it generates a transport chain, reduces transport expenses, checks traffic bottlenecks and sustainability. We expect the Government to take a call on these vital issues which have prospects of promoting business and employment.
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