Maiden meet of ‘Joint Economic Monitoring Group’ held
Srinagar: A delegation of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry led by Nasir Hamid Khan, Senior Vice President held the first meeting of the Joint Economic Monitoring Group constituted under the directions of the Governor.
The Group has been constituted to monitor the regular redressal of economic issues and follow-up on the decisions of the Government taken from time to time. The Group is headed by the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir and has all major Head of Departments including Chief Engineer I&FC, PWD (R&B), PDD, Director Srinagar Airport, representative of Municipality, SDA, LAWDA, Horticulture, Tourism, Handicrafts, and other enforcement agencies of the Government.
The Meeting was held in the office chambers of the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir. The Divisional Commissioner has directed the holding of weekly meetings of the Group for speedy disposal of pending issues.
The agenda of the meeting was mainly regarding the Air/Road Connectivity, revival of Carpet/Handicraft Sector, problems faced by the Entrepreneurs like non-availability of land and procedural constraints like Pollution Clearances, Power Tariff issue of the Tourism Industry, Conservation of the Dal Lake, Crop Insurance Scheme, Prevention and Management of Floods and the restoration of the Cross-LOC Trade.
It was brought to the notice of the administration that transportation charges of goods per truck from New Delhi to Srinagar had touched 85,000/-, Jammu-Srinagar Rs 28,000/-, Punjab-Srinagar Rs 55,000/- in some cases and transporters were not willing to ply their vehicles on this sector. As a consequence, the prices of commodities had also increased. The Divisional Commissioner briefed the participants about the various measures taken to resolve the road linkage problem. He informed the KCC&I members that urgent meetings had been scheduled in this week with the National Highway authorities who had assured that the road position would be stabilized within a week. He also informed the members that the administration was working towards providing an alternative corridor from the Mughal Road for transportation of goods and passengers.
The problem of non-availability of Crop Insurance Scheme for Kashmir was raised by the KCC&I members. The Divisional Commissioner directed the concerned department to furnish the present status of the proposal for consideration of the Group.
The Divisional Commissioner also gave a detailed account of measures taken to prevent and manage floods and improve the water absorption capacity by augmentation of the drainage system and construction of storm drain network in the city. For beautification of the Central Business District, the KCC&I members suggested underground cabling of power lines. The Chief Engineer, PDD Hashmat Qazi said that the proposal could be considered for main business areas.
The participants thanked the Divisional Commissioner for the prompt response given for redressal of issues and also appreciated the direction of the Hon’ble Governor for creating a structured mechanism for resolution of issues relating to trade, commerce and industry.
KV News
