 Early Times Report
Jammu, Oct 28: This Diwali is going to be different for the people of Jammu as the anti-people policies of the bureaucrats have hit the common man hard.
“Jammu always used to celebrate Diwali with a lot of fervor and enthusiasm but this year everything seems to be missing. There are many reasons for Jammu people feeling dejected and let down. During the past two years the arbitrary decisions taken by the government have rendered many people jobless. The new policies that were introduced have hit the businessmen very hard. Many traders are mulling to migrate to some other state to eke out a living as managing business in Jammu has become very difficult,” said a local Jammuitie. He said that prior to Diwali, most people in the Jammu region used to get their houses painted and white washed. “There used to be a rush at shops as people wanted to buy new things. But this time around there are no customers in the market and people seem least interested in shopping as they have no money.”
An observer said, “Due to business houses getting hit many organizations have la > No customers in markets, buzz nowhere to be seen
> Jobless people have no money to spend on festivities
It’s in place to mention here, the Tribune newspaper wound up its bureau in Jammu due to it not getting much support from the government. “Many journalists in Jammu region have been rendered jobless as the newspaper industry too has been hit. Most of these scribes are in their middle ages and have been left with nothing to do,” the observer added.
He said that the helmsmen leave no opportunity to claim that they are building “Naya Jammu and Kashmir” but the “ground realities contradict their claims. The poor non-local labourers who used to eke out their livings by visiting Kashmir have been chased out from the Valley. Jammu used to remain abuzz with the people of Kashmir during winter and from small to big businessman everyone used to make good money. People of Jammu had never imagined that they would witness such a slump in their business as they are seeing today,” he added.
The observer said, “There would be no Darbar Move also this year and Jammu people have not much to look forward towards.” | 