India puts ‘IIOJK’s resources’ on sale

Mehbooba Mufti says New Delhi has brought the region’s economy on the brink of collapse

ISLAMABAD:

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti said New Delhi put the resources of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir on sale and brought its economy to the brink of collapse.

According to Kashmir Media Service, Mufti, while interacting with PDP delegations from the Chenab Valley said,

"From power projects to the mining sector, everything is being auctioned by the present dispensation under a planned conspiracy to smash the economy to smithereens". She added the administrative onslaught has already shown its impact.

"While curfews and lockdowns have caused serious dent to the economy, a series of administrative orders and laws have come as a shock," she said.

The Chenab Valley, she said, was facing the worst impact of the sell-out by Indian government as even the power projects which Jammu and Kashmir was capable of undertaking itself has now been handed over to Indian company, NHPC.

The Ratle power project is an example where the state-owned Power Development Corporation was self-sufficient to undertake the project but it was handed over to the joint consortium that too by minimizing the share of JKPDC, she added.

She said power project construction companies were working like the East India company ignoring the rights of the local population. Locals are being denied employment in these projects, she added. AP