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Unrest deals big blow to fragile economy

Last Updated 12 August 2016, 20:28 IST

The five-week unrest in Kashmir has dealt a huge blow to its already fragile economy, which is still reeling under the effects of the 2014 floods.

The tourism sector, one of the major contributors to Kashmir’s economy, has been worst-hit as thousands of people associated with it have already lost their jobs due to the prevailing unrest.

The hospitality sector has resorted to job cuts to contain losses as the tourist inflow has come down to zero since the protest erupted after the killing of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8.

According to stakeholders, the tourism sector was doing well till July 8 with hotels recording sizeable occupancy. “However, post July 8, the tourist flow came to zero with Kashmir remaining under curfew, restrictions and shutdowns continuously,” they said.

Till a month ago, a hotel in Srinagar that had 20 employees has only five left now. “In view of closure of major avenues of the hospitality sector, the owners have to go for jobs cuts to curtail the losses,” said Mudasir Ahmad, who owns a hotel in Srinagar.

“It is not possible for us to retain staff when there is no business. The situation we are going through, it seems that it may go a long way. So if things go like that, more layoffs will take place definitely,” he added. As per insiders in the hospitality sector, the major brunt of job cuts is being felt by lower rung staff, including waiters, drivers and those doing menial job in hotels, restaurants and other places.

As per reports many restaurateurs and cafe owners have also asked their staff to take “unpaid leave” till the situation improves. Apart from tourism, the major brunt of street protests has been borne by the daily wagers.

Lal Chowk, the business centre of Srinagar has been deserted for the last five weeks. With all  the shops shut, trading has come to a standstill. Srinagar alone has more than 1 lakh workers who have been jobless for more than a month.

Cong admits failure on Kashmir front

The Congress on Friday admitted that it did not “fully succeed” in its attempts to find “practical and pragmatic” solutions to the Kashmir issue extended “full cooperation” to the Modi government in any “positive” steps to defuse the “extremely tense and tragic situation” there, DHNS reports. At the outset, former prime minister Manmohan Singh asked the government at the all party meeting on Kashmir to come out with a roadmap to defuse the situation in the Valley. “That alone will convince the people of J&K that we have a caring government at Delhi,” Singh said. Opposition leaders also wanted the government to immediately start dialogue with all stakeholders and take a series of confidence building measures to restore normalcy in the Kashmir Valley.

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(Published 12 August 2016, 20:28 IST)

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