Ease of Doing Business reforms
Economies the world over are focussing on attracting investors to start businesses and propel growth in the regions that have so far evaded a healthy expansion of industries.
Jammu and Kashmir too is one such region that has so far not been able to attract the growth of industrial sector that would have over time brought prosperity to the region. As such the government has kick-started reforms for promoting Ease of Doing Business (EoDB).
Notably, steps have already been taken to ensure a revamped industrial policy, deregulation measures and initiatives aimed at supporting Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across the UT.
However, lot more needs to be done for creating greater awareness among stakeholders about the extensive deregulations and decriminalization measures implemented under Phase-I of Ease of Doing Business reforms besides, deliberations on the next phase of EoDB reforms to be undertaken in the Union Territory.
The stakeholders who are willing to be part of this growth story also need to be urged to take advantage of the MSME Health Clinic established under the Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance (RAMP) Scheme, besides sharing their feedback on the proposed revamp of the Industrial Policy for Jammu and Kashmir.
Primarily, there is a need for stakeholders to fully understand the changes made in the industrial policy and the scores of deregulations and decriminalizations introduced as part of the national reforms aimed at reducing the compliance burden and improving the overall business environment.
As of now several stringent norms had been eased and replaced with trust-based mechanisms such as self-certification, while many government services had been made strictly time-bound with provisions for auto-approvals after the stipulated timelines.
Though these changes are multidimensional the industrialists and entrepreneurs are needed to encourage and share their suggestions and concerns with the empowered committee constituted to ensure the smooth rollout of the revamped Industrial Policy for Union Territory in the days to come.
Importantly, a committee, comprising the ACS Finance, Commissioner Secretary, I&C and MD, J&K Bank has been tasked with ensuring the effective and time-bound implementation of the New Industrial Policy.
The stakeholders need to be encouraged to freely approach the committee with their issues and suggestions so that the entire exercise becomes purposeful and delivers tangible outcomes for the industrial sector in Jammu and Kashmir
Since the country is working on the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’ towards creating a business-friendly environment, the industry reforms are intended to make the process of establishing and operating businesses far less cumbersome by drastically reducing formalities, documentation and procedural delays.
