Srinagar, June 8: Terming unemployment an alarming problem the Valley has been gripped in, the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) today said the issue needed an urgent attention by the centre.
 At a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the chamber inviting latter’s attention to it, said the issue needed to be attended to on priority. “The unemployed educated youth in the Valley should be absorbed in resourceful sectors of government of India,” it said. 
 Giving details of its meeting with the PM, president KCCI Nazir Ahmad Dar told Greater Kashmir the chamber had pleaded for “strengthening concept of Skill Development among the educated youth for employment generation in the state.”
 The chamber stressed the need for special financial support to J&K through National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).  “There is a need for implementation of Skill Development Initiatives by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India,” he said.
 According to Dar, the chamber also stressed the need for establishing Rural Self Employment Training Institute in every district in the state. “The Ministry of Rural Development should help to establish such institutes,” he said.
 The chamber demanded that the infrastructure of the moribund HMT plant and ITI here should be utilized for skill development in areas like gem jewelry and IT/electronic sectors.
 The chamber sought implementation of elevent projects namely Flower Centre, Integrated Textile Park, Mega Food Park, Cold Chain, Modernization of Abattoir, Food Streets (Four), Integrated Sericulture Project, Comprehensive Handicrafts Cluster Development Scheme (CHCDS), Comprehensive Powerloom Cluster Development Scheme (CPCDS), Comprehensive Handloom Cluster  Development Scheme (CHCDS), Poultry and Sheep projects, in PPP mode.
 Dar said these projects have to be funded by the state-centre in the ratio of 10: 80. “The rest 10 per cent has to be arranged through SPV,” he said.
 “By implementing these projects,” Dar said, “employment can be generated at a massive scale besides developing local corporate culture,” he added.
 “We informed the PM that necessary sanction for implementation of these projects is required as they are still under process for want of that sanction,” he said.
 “In order to ensure time bound implementation of these projects the basic stakeholders (SPVs) are ready to bear 20 per cent cost of the project. Hence the role of state government should be as a facilitator for providing technical support and monitoring of funds,” he said.
 “We also urged the PM for early implementation of different government of India schemes under private sector,” he added. 
 President KCCI insisted the PM that in order to develop MSME sector in a self sustained manner the implementations of Task Force Report for MSME will play a vital role.
 “Although the implementation as mentioned in the final report was kept time bound for implementation by the different authorities but the implementation is not visible till date,” he said
  “We pleaded that till date the Rs 100 crore corpus for revival and rehabilitation of sick units has not been released to J&K Financial Development Corporation as per recommendations of Task Force,” he added.
 The KCCI also raised the issue of ban on Shahtoosh. “For collection of wool from the animal, no antelope is killed,” it said.
 Other demands the KCCI put forth included: Release of funds for horticulture and handicraft industry, setting up of Hospital and  Nursing Homes in Private Sector, Liberal grant for tourism sector, formation of a Task Force for conservation of Lakes and other water bodies, etc.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 8 Jun 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 8 Jun 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 9 Jun 2010 00:00:00 IST