The Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) on Monday sought the intervention of Jammu and Kashmir’s governor Satya Pal Malik for releasing payments of Micro, Small, and Medium enterprises (MSMEs), say media reports.
JCCI claimed that the Power Development Department (PDD) has not released payment of over Rs 200 crore to MSMEs since September 2018 against the supply of various items for the success of Centrally-sponsored ‘Saubhagya’ scheme.
The Saubhagya Scheme or Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana is a government project to provide electricity to all households. The project was announced in September 2017 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an aim to complete the electrification process by December 2018. Households identified via the Socio-economic and Caste Census (SECC) of 2011 are eligible for free electricity connections, while others will be charged Rs 500.
According to reports, the MSMEs in Jammu have borrowed loans from various banks and financial institutions for the success of Saubhagya scheme. However, they are now suffering huge losses due to burden of interest.
JCCI President Raksh Gupta said, “The pending payments, which is more than Rs 200 crore, if not released immediately, will result in lot of hardships for the concerned MSME units (and) huge losses to them… (this will make) them defaulters with banks and financial institutions.”
Gupta requested the governor to direct the concerned department to release the payment so that these MSMEs can be saved from becoming sick.
The Jammu & Kashmir Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industries (J&K JCCI) is the first ever cross Line of Control institution that brings together the main business chambers and traders’ associations from across the divide. J&K JCCI and Conciliation Resources work together on the confidence building measure of cross Line of Control trade between the two sides of divided Kashmir, strengthening trade related policies and breaking down regional divisions.
