JAMMU: The Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industries (JCCI) has appealed to the J&K UT Government for completely unlocking Jammu and restoring normal business activity as the COVID-19 cases have been receded considerably.
President JCCI, Arun Gupta along with entire Chamber team called on Divisional Commissioner, Dr Raghav Langer and urged to restore normalcy in Jammu as soon as possible to rejuvenate business activity which was snarled after the imposition of corona curfew in wake of second wave of COVID-19. The Chamber team told Dr Langar that the business community of the region is passing through the worst ever time of their entire life due to extreme financial crunch faced on account of continuous lockdowns and prevailing uncertainty. The Chamber said that to save the businessmen of Jammu there is dire need that the partial lockdown which is in force these days should be lifted henceforth so that the trading fraternity picks up the pieces and once again start their life bit by bit.
Arun Gupta made a fervent appeal for considering JCCI demand of waiving off electricity bills and also give moratorium to the traders to give at least some respite from the mounting financial hardships which they are confronting right now. He said that expenses of the traders are standing tall but the income is nowhere in the scene making their position topsy-turvy therefore, they have nowhere to go but only government can bail them out from this tough situation which they are facing without any fault of theirs, apart from this, Gupta also took up issue of hotel industry and transporters claiming that these two sectors have also been hit hard due to corona curfew and need to be taken care of by the government. He demanded that hotels and restaurants should be allowed to function with 50 per cent capacity with the extending time up to 10 PM. He also demanded to redraft the policy to boost the tourism sector in Jammu region.
He laid stress on the government to complete tourism projects including Mubarak Mandi Complex, Tawi River front lake and retreat ceremony at Suchetgarh border etc. to woo large number of visitors during tourist season thus providing the much needed push to local economy. Expressing concern over power outage in Jammu which has affected the electricity supply badly, he said that the issue is of vital concern because those ailing with coronavirus are using oxygen concentrators at their homes but with the frequent power cuts the purpose of these life saving equipments is not served and the ailing face danger of losing their lives.
After hearing patiently, the Divisional Commissioner assured to take up the matter with higher up for early redressal.
