Mr. Qalander is seeking patrons within state bureaucracy when he should be asking for dismantling of the “License Raj”
‘Decadent industrial culture’ led to Kashmir business downfall: FCIK
Srinagar: The industrial sector in Kashmir has reached to its nadir, owing to what the industrialists and entrepreneurs have termed as the outcome of a “decadent business culture” that persists since decades.
“There are many factors that have contributed towards debacle of the ongoing industrial movement, the cumulative effect of which has led to culmination of a decadent industrial culture,” said Federation Chamber of Industries Kashmir (FCIK) President Shakeel Qalander.
Qalander said that the factors still persist while the process of decay has assumed recurring virulent posture, “which needs to be addressed immediately in a right perspective.”
“We have identified eight key factors, which, if not immediately addressed will mask the current industrial segment into a permanent oblivion,” the FCIK President said.
Elaborating, he said that the first generation entrepreneurs taking up entrepreneurship with fervor had no concept of industries here. “They even didn’t get any guidance from the sponsoring authorities who, too were passing through a nascent stage,” he said.
Moreover, Qalander added that the industrial programme, though introduced with alluring elements of incentives, had inherent shortcomings which were initially dormant, “but eventually developed as a virulent impediment in the process of its implementation.”
He revealed that the infrastructural facilities and provisions of basic amenities such as space in the organized industrial estates, road connectivity, electric energy, technology for increased productivity, financial assistance, marketing assistance, and flow of raw-material “were either inadequate or provisions of such facilities were evaded with impracticable conditions enforced by the implementing agencies meant for the growth of industries.”
Another factor which contributed to the downfall of the industry, he said, were “The industrial programs that lacked a real sponsorship assigned to various departments like agriculture, horticulture, industries and commerce for their role got diluted and restricted to unimportant works.”
Adding to the collapse was the imperative coordination that never existed between various organizations and departments involved in the process, which FCIK President said “ultimately led to red-tapism, corruption, nepotism, and favoritism at all levels.”
Qalander said that the remaining chances of continuance of industrial programme received a death blow due turmoil from 1989 and onwards. “The industrial activities got further stagnated, when the strangulated industrial promoters exhausted their reserves and borrowed funds for their sustenance and for meeting up the recurring losses; and in that process got themselves impoverished,” he said.
Qalander said that the performances of implementing agencies came to zilch not to speak of coming to the rescue of industrial programme, “which got reverted back to its primitive stage.”
The FCIK president said that the industrial program incepted in the State was more to achieve dimensional purpose of economic elevation and generation of employment, yet it could not obtain the desired goal owing to these factors.