TRANSPORT INDUSTRY
Transport industry in Jammu and Kashmir has been under great stress since the clampdown imposed by the central government in Union Territory of JK after the abrogation of article 370, August 5 last year.
Now the Covid-19 lockdown has proved the last nail virtually in the coffin of the transport industry especially in Kashmir valley. Private transport has been without any business for the past ten months and now there is almost bankruptcy in their pockets and many of them have loans from different financial institutions including from private parties.
They have failed to repay any of these financial institutions in the past ten months and have been waiting for the government intervention to get some rebate on their debts.
The central government has intervened in many sectors in order to save the people from bankruptcy and debt burden but in Kashmir they have looked the other way in spite of the fact that it was the central government which imposed a clampdown on normal life fearing trouble and violence. The clampdown was imposed with the heavy hand and all the roads were sealed forcing the transporters to be off the roads for months together.
In such a situation, it is the duty of UT administration to uprise the central government about the state of affairs of transport industry in Jammu and Kashmir and prepare a comprehensive financial package for them so that they are bailed out from the current situation.
