Five years on, 400 kanals lie Idle at SIDCO Lassipora, allege young entrepreneurs
Educated youth allege official apathy as promised Central Food Park remains only on paper
Pulwama: Even after five years of land acquisition, around 400 kanals of prime land at the SIDCO Industrial Estate Lassipora, Kashmir’s largest industrial hub in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district, continues to lie unused.
The land was acquired for the ambitious Central Project Food Park, aimed at promoting food processing units and generating large-scale employment. However, no unit has been established on the site so far, leaving hundreds of educated but unemployed youth disillusioned.
The prolonged delay has sparked resentment among young entrepreneurs who had applied for small industrial plots at SIDCO to start their own manufacturing and processing units but were turned away citing “non-availability of land.”
“We are being told again and again that there is no land available at SIDCO, but on the ground we can clearly see hundreds of kanals lying vacant for years,” said Aijaz Ahmad, an unemployed postgraduate from Pulwama who had applied for land to set up a food processing unit. “If this land was meant to create jobs, why has it been left abandoned?”
According to officials earlier, the 400 kanals were acquired to establish food processing units under the Central Food Park project, which was projected as a major boost for horticulture and agriculture-based industries in south Kashmir. The project was expected to provide direct and indirect employment to thousands.
However, five years on, the site shows no signs of development.
“I completed my diploma in food technology with the hope that I would start a small unit here,” said Bilal Ahmad, another applicant. “Instead of encouraging us, the system has pushed us into frustration. Many of us are overage now and still unemployed.”
Several applicants said they had invested time and money in preparing project reports, arranging finances, and completing formalities, only to be told that land could not be allotted.
“We followed every rule, submitted every document, and waited patiently,” said Shabir Ahmad, an unemployed engineer. “But nothing moved. Meanwhile, a huge chunk of land is locked for a project that exists only in files.”
The youth allege that the delay has not only stalled industrial growth but has also forced many skilled young people to abandon their entrepreneurial dreams or look for work outside Kashmir.
Local youth groups and aspiring entrepreneurs have urged the government to either immediately operationalize the Central Food Park or reallocate the idle land to unemployed youth willing to establish industrial units.
“If the authorities are serious about employment generation, they should stop wasting time,” said a group of applicants
“Either start the food park or give this land to local youth who are ready to invest, work, and create jobs.”
They warned that continued neglect of such projects would further deepen unemployment and alienation among educated youth in the Valley.
