Valley alone suffers loss to the tune of over `40,000cr

Prolonged curfews made it hard for the commoners to earn a living

Jammu and Kashmir’s economy, bruised by years of turmoil and the 2014 deluge, was struggling to recover but the postAugust 5, 2019 lockdown pushed it rolling down the hill again and now with Covid-19, the situation has only exacerbated.

“The Valley’s economy alone has suffered losses to the tune of over `40,000 crore in the past one year. It fell off a cliff due to the post-August 5, 2019 lockdown and now ‘lockdown within lockdown’ has left it in a shambles,” said Sheikh Ashiq, president of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).

The tough measures including prolonged curfews and an almost complete communications blackout initiated by the government to enforce a writ of control in the erstwhile state particularly Valley a year ago made it extremely hard for a commoner to earn a living.

Apart from those who lived on hand to mouth like daily-wage labourers, small time traders and transporters, the traditional handicrafts, horticulture and tourism too suffered enormously, thereby pushing tens of thousands more associated with these trades in fiscal distress.

By asking tourists and Amarnath pilgrims to leave the Valley in July last year, the government in a single swoop caused irreversible damage to the economy of the state, the KCCI had said.

The disruptions that preceded and followed the August 5, 2019 moves have resulted in loss of jobs to tens of thousands of people besides leading to borrowers of financial institutions losing their capacity to fulfill their commitments. While a substantial number of accounts turned bankrupt, many business establishments closed down soon thereafter.

Within four months after J&K was downgraded and split up, the Valley’s ten districts alone suffered a loss of `17,878.18 crore, as per a report released by the KCCI in December last year.

Earlier this year, representatives of J&K’s business communities at their separate meetings with Union home minister Amit Shah, and Lt. Governor Girish Chandra Murmu, pleaded for an economic bailout.

“We were assured that a series of measures would be initiated soon as a comprehensive response to save our economy from collapse. But Covid-19 seems to have impeded steps the government could have taken in this direction,” said Mr. Ashiq.

He added, “We are now just hoping against hope that something good will be done.”