Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Sept 1: Senior vice president, Peoples Conference and former minister Abdul Gani Vakil expressed concern over the sluggish development of Horticulture sector in Kashmir and said that government has till date failed to launch a result-oriented program for the development of the fruit industry.
In a statement issued here today Vakil said the important sector “has become a victim of government negligence as well as the COVID-19 lockdown as half of the production of near about 18000 MT still gets rotten due to lack of marketing and other allied facilities.”
“As much as 50 per cent production goes to dustbins because no benchmarks were kept to establish cold storages or juice factories equipped with latest technology,” he added.
Vakil said the fruit industry is the mainstay of Kashmiris economy which also provides livelihood to lakhs of people directly and indirectly but still Govt is not concerned about it, Vakil added.
He alleged that the UT Government although assured fruit growers special package, adequate compensation of losses of fruit orchards but it is surprising and unfortunate that the Govt failed to fulfill its promises and thereby added to the miseries of fruit growers and traders.
Vakil urged the Lt Governor, Manoj Sinha to take the important issue of huge losses to fruit growers with the Central Government with the strong recommendations of sanctioning of special economic package including waiving of KCC loan as natural calamities last year and COVID- 19 this year across the Valley caused massive damage to the fruit industry and even untimely fall of apple blossom this year alarm bells among the fruit growers and apple traders, Vakil added.
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