Srinagar, Oct 6 : Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary on Tuesday said the Omar Abdullah-led government has no policy to shut any Public Sector Undertaking in Jammu and Kashmir, despite the CAG report for 2021-2023 flagging losses and recommending closure of several inactive units.
“If we go by this logic, the whole country should be shut. If India goes into losses, will you shut India? If J&K faces financial crunch, will you put a lock at Lakhanpur?” Choudhary told reporters, as per News Agency.
He said PSUs were created with great difficulty during Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah’s time and are the heritage of Jammu and Kashmir. “Why should they be closed? If they have gone into losses, accountability should be fixed on the officers and the leadership under whom they went into losses,” he said.
The Deputy CM said the trend of shutting PSUs seen in last few years should not continue. Only those units which have completely collapsed and are not in a position to run can be thought about, but as of now there is no proposal to close any PSU. He said committees have been formed to review past closure decisions and explore revival.
Citing the Government Emporium, he said J&K’s own products like ladies suits and gents coats are better than big brands but need proper exploration, marketing in malls and promotion through fashion shows.
On the Rs 28,400 crore New Central Sector Scheme 2021 and allegations by industrialists that most benefits went to only 18 units, Choudhary said the Industries Department has worked hard and a new industrial policy is in final stage, framed on the directions of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah keeping in view concerns of industrialists from both Kashmir and Jammu.
“What happened in the past will not happen again and benefit will reach people in real sense,” he said.
On Supreme Court taking cognizance of issues related to Election Commission of India, Choudhary said the matter is sub-judice, but if voter lists have been tampered with, it is a big accident in the history of the country which hurts the dreams of B R Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi.
