The Jammu and Kashmir Budget tabled on Wednesday by Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu sought to give a major push to artisans, art and music in the State, besides a new orientation to meet the pressing unemployment issue.
The government will set up “first ever e-commerce platform to link 20,000 artisans and weavers of the State for direct online sale of their products.”
“The target is to increase the exports of handicrafts and handloom products from the current level by Rs 1,000 crore annually. It will minimize the exploitation of the multiple layers of middleman-ship,” Dr. Drabu said.
In another measure, the government announced a scheme “to help restore the livelihood of 696 identified fur artisans, affected due to ban on the fur trade way back in 1972.”
“A target of 348 cases per year shall be exclusively kept for these fur artisans. The government shall make a special incentive equivalent to 5 per cent of the project in each case as substitute to 5 per cent beneficiaries share required as per the guidelines of Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme,” said Mr. Drabu.
A budgetary provision of Rs two crore for the current year has been provided.
To promote and conserve folk music, Mr. Drabu announced setting up a ‘Shams Faqeer Institute of Sufi and Folk Music’ School of Arts in Jammu.
“The institute would be set up in an honor to (former chief minister) late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, who had a keen interest in Sufism and arts,” he said.
Tackling unemployment
Describing unemployment “a social issue of serious magnitude”, Mr. Drabu called for Aadhaar-seeded registration with the employment department for a centralised database of unemployed youth.
“A proper sanctioning mechanism on the pattern of the erstwhile Seed Capital Fund Scheme shall be put in place. The employment department shall design a structured awareness programme and implement it at the grass-root level in collaboration with Educational Institutions and Panchayats etc for creating public awareness regarding the employment initiative for fostering entrepreneurial mindset among the youth,” he added.
Opposition unhappy
CPI(M) MLA Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami said the budget has “no mention of substantial mechanism to tackle the alarming rise of unemployment problem.”
“The unemployed youth will feel let down. The budget proposals reveal that employment generation has not been the priority of this government,” said Mr. Tarigami.
