Srinagar, Oct 15: The Association of Integrated Textile and Handicraft Park (AITHP), Zakura, has welcomed the enactment of the J&K Ease of Doing Business Act, 2026, expressing gratitude to the Omar Abdullah-led government for initiating long-awaited reforms to relieve entrepreneurs of unnecessary compliances and bureaucratic controls. The Association urged early notification of rules and guidelines to ensure tangible relief on the ground.
At a meeting of its Advisory Committee, convened to discuss the legislation and the debate surrounding it, members regretted the opposition to reforms intended to simplify business procedures.
They maintained that genuine concerns regarding ecology, environment, public safety and planned development must be respected, but should not become grounds for resisting much-needed regulatory reforms. The industrial fraternity, they emphasised, have neither sought nor would support any relaxation compromising these safeguards.
The members observed that redundant No Objection Certificates, repeated clearances and overlapping compliances had become a persistent source of harassment, diverting attention of the entrepreneurs from production, labour management, financing, debt servicing, taxation and marketing within their enterprises.
“How can enterprises flourish when their owners spend more time pursuing files and permissions than managing and expanding their businesses?” the members questioned.
They regretted that regulatory simplification measures introduced elsewhere in the country years ago had not adequately reached J&K, partly because of an entrenched administrative culture that continued to exercise excessive discretionary control over entrepreneurs instead of facilitating their activities.
Speaking on the occasion, AITHP President Syed Afaq Qadiri said the EoDB Act should be viewed as the beginning of broader economic reforms and read alongside the forthcoming New Industrial Policy, understood to be in the final stages of approval.
He hoped the policy would accord due priority to existing enterprises that have endured over three decades of disruptions, natural calamities, economic uncertainty and inadequate institutional support.
“The EoDB Act seeks to free entrepreneurs from unnecessary bureaucratic controls, while the New Industrial Policy must provide the economic support necessary for their revival, sustainability and growth. Their real success will depend on implementation,” Qadiri observed.
He said the legislation reflected longstanding demands of apex industrial organisations for transparent, predictable and entrepreneur-friendly regulation, consistent with reforms pursued elsewhere under the Government of India’s Ease of Doing Business initiatives and local needs.
Referring to apprehensions expressed by civil society groups, Qadiri urged stakeholders to examine the Act’s provisions, safeguards and exceptions carefully, distinguishing genuine statutory deficiencies from concerns that could be addressed through implementation rules. He hoped the forthcoming guidelines would clarify environmental, public safety and planning protections without diluting the legislation’s fundamental objective.
The Association appealed to civil society organisations and other stakeholders to engage constructively, recognising that economic development and environmental protection were complementary responsibilities.
Reiterating gratitude to the Omar Abdullah-led government, the Association urged early notification of rules and guidelines that faithfully reflect the spirit and intent of the legislation. It cautioned that the reforms must not be diluted through fresh procedural requirements, discretionary interpretations or bureaucratic practices that perpetuate the very obstacles the Act seeks to eliminate.
The Association called for clearly defined timelines, accountability of officials, effective grievance redressal and regular monitoring at the highest level to ensure uniform implementation across departments. It emphasised that the government must ensure a visible change in administrative attitudes, replacing the culture of control with one of facilitation and trust.
“The real success of EoDB will not be measured by the enactment of legislation alone, but by its impact on the ground—when entrepreneurs are genuinely freed from unnecessary official interference and can devote their energies to production, innovation, expansion and employment generation. The government must ensure that what has been promised through legislation is not lost in implementation,” the Association concluded.
