WE THE PEOPLE
Over 400 sick industrial units stand identified in J&K which need soft loans for their revival
Besides people demand identification of industrial potential and vibrant industrial estates to boost industrialization
By: Ahlam Masoodi
SRINAGAR: As highlighted in our bottom report the other day that Kashmir valley has failed to make any dent into the industrial sphere whileas there has been appreciable development in the Jammu region, which calls for detailed probe and technical study by a team of Experts of proven integrity to identify the causes for such a lop-sided development. People connected with the Industry accuse the State Government of its failure to implement the Industrial Policy-2004 and charge it with discouraging entrepreneurs to set up industrial units in the valley.
It is further revealed that the Tourism Sector too has remained in the backyard and as such attention has to be focussed on this sector to improve the over all economic health of the people and particularly of those connected with these two sectors. For setting-up any industrial unit, land is required as the basic component and hence the delay in finalization of land acquisition cases by the concerned officials has proved a major stumbling block in maintaining the flow of investment into the State to sustain the pace of industrialization. It is to be kept in mind that the development of Industrial Estates, allotment of plots/sheds/shops to the prospective entrepreneurs on lease/rent basis, is one of the basic requirements of industrialization. The Department is, therefore, charged with the responsibility with the setting up IEs and then supposed to allot plots, sheds and shops to the entrepreneurs in the Industrial Estates.
It has come to light that in 14 districts of the State, there were 40 Industrial Estates covering an area of 21545 kanals. A detailed scrutiny has revealed that 3 Industrial Estates have not been established for the last 17 years, rendering the expenditure of Rs.1.69 crore on them unproductive, besides retarding the industrial development of the identified industrially backward areas. Another area where General Managers and District Industrial Officers had to identify entrepreneurs has not been done. It is necessary that the persons selected for training should be prepared to take-up their own trade after completion of the training. Besides the purpose of imparting training is to create a trained and skilled class for absorption by self-employment. It is learnt that in 25 Training Centres run by 6 DICs of Jammu Division, training was imparted to 6819 trainees in various trades like knitting, woolen durret making and leather goods etc., on which an expenditure of Rs. 2.95 crore was incurred from 2001 to 2005. It was observed that after completion of training, none of the trainees had set-up any unit. Thus the expenditure of Rs.2.95 crore incurred on training was unproductive, as the objective of creating skilled entrepreneurs for self-employment was not achieved.
It has further been observed that there are large numbers of sick units and it was one of the primary objectives of the State’s Industrial Policy to revive potentially viable sick units. But it has been observed that during the period of five years ending December 2005, 227 units in Kashmir and 169 in Jammu were identified as sick by the Department. An amount of Rs. 1.90 crore was sanctioned as soft loan for revival of 17 sick units. However, Rs.1.53 crore was disbursed to only 12 sick units from 2001-2005 through SIDCO. This indicates that the pace of revival of sick units was poor. Besides, the status of actual revival and date of recommencement of production of these units had not been obtained. No concrete steps have been taken by the Department to address the sickness issue, leaving the problem unresolved. Besides all the registered units were required to submit yearly, the production returns of raw material received/utilized, stock in hand, production and sale to the Directorate of Industries. But it has been observed that no such statements had either been received or recovered from the units.
Hence it becomes necessary that survey for assessing the industrial potential of each district is conducted and data of functional/non-functional units updated. This will enable the Department to draw long term plans on realistic basis. Steps need to be taken for early establishment of industrial estates and also land acquisition cases got processed to expand industrial base in the State. There is also need to strengthen the training and monitoring mechanism for effective implementation of the industrial development programme in Kashmir Valley. .............................................................................(Concluded)
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