New Delhi, Feb 4:
The government on Tuesday said the full economic potential of Jammu and Kashmir has not been realised due to Article 370 and the full rights of the people of the region enshrined in the Constitution were denied because of Article 35A. Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said in Lok Sabha that based on the Parliament’s recommendation, a declaration was issued by the President on August 6, 2019 under Article 370 and the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was reorganised into the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Territory of Ladakh, addressing all such issues. Full economic potential of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions could not be realised for the last 70 years as the people of Jammu and Kashmir have suffered from terrorist violence and separatism supported from across the border for the past many decades,” he said, replying to a written question. Reddy said on account of Article 35A and certain other constitutional ambiguities, the people of this region were denied full rights enshrined in the Constitution and other benefits of various central laws that were being enjoyed by other citizens of the country. Due to these recent decisions, certain precautionary measures were taken initially which have been subsequently relaxed,” he said. The minister said as reported by the government of Jammu and Kashmir, the agriculture operations are going on smoothly in the valley. During 2019-20 (upto January, 2020), 18.34 lakh MTs of fresh fruit (apples) have been dispatched. In the horticulture sector, under the Market Intervention Schemes (MIS) launched by the Government of India in September 2019, for the first time, 15769.38 MTs of apples valued at Rs.70.45 crores have been procured up to January 28, 2020, directly from the growers in Kashmir valley through National Agriculture Marketing Federation of India (NAFED). This scheme has been extended up to March 31, 2020. The sericulture sector recorded a production of 813 MTs of silk cocoon in 2019. Reddy said during the first three quarters of 2019-20, handicrafts worth Rs 688.26 crore were exported. Various tourism promotional campaigns have also been launched, he said. The minister said the government of Jammu and Kashmir has informed that as per the Periodic Labour Force Survey, last conducted for 2017-18 by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation of Government of India, the worker-population ratio for persons in the age group of 15 years and above for Jammu and Kashmir is 51 per cent.
