Kashmiri traders have described the centre’s relief package for the valley ‘the biggest joke of the decade.’
The president of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI), Sheikh Ashiq told reporters it was a ‘humiliation.’
Speaking to reporters in Srinagar, he said, “We were promised it (flood package) will be a priority of the government but there is nothing in the package announced yesterday. We feel dejected.”
On Tuesday, the union home minister Rajnath Singh and the union finance minister Arun Jaitley had announced a relief package worth Rs 2437 crore for Kashmir.
Ashiq said that the announcement was “shocking” and they rejected the package.
He said, “It is a humiliation for the people.”
President, Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA), Mohammad Yaseen Khan, said the Centre was “rubbing salt on the wounds of the Kashmiri people”.
“Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) had promised to release the package soon. We don’t understand what sin are they punishing us for? We had made a loss estimate of Rs one lakh crore, but the state government submitted a proposal of Rs 44,000 crore.”
Khan blamed the PDP government for betraying the people of Kashmir and urged the party sever ties with the BJP adding that all MLAs should resign to pretest ‘the biggest joke of the decade.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had spent his Diwali with the flood victims of Kashmir in October last year, had announced a relief package worth Rs 740 crore. This was widely termed as his ‘Diwali gift’ for the people of the valley.