The State That Claims 'Ease of Doing Business' Cannot Pay Its Own Suppliers
J&K's MSME Payment Crisis Is Institutional Betrayal
They delivered the work, the government certified it, and the ribbon was cut. Then came the bank notice not for failure, but for non-payment. Across Jammu and Kashmir, MSMEs sit on dues running into months, often years, with many claims predating 2019. This is no longer a delay; it is a default. The state that commissioned, supervised, and accepted the work has chosen not to pay for it, transferring the cost to the system's smallest players. The Chief Minister’s claim of ₹18,382.26 crore cleared in 2025–26 is presented as closure, but it raises a sharper question: who actually got paid? Of the released contractor payments, how much reached local MSMEs, and how much went to external, GeM-linked firms operating with advance protection? The public deserves a breakdown. The law mandates payment within 45 days, yet the MSME Facilitation Council's orders are ignored without consequence. Banks are invoking SARFAESI against enterprises whose only 'default' was trusting a government contract. This is not a procedural lapse; it is a system that protects departments while punishing suppliers. If the 'ease of doing business' is real, why are local enterprises collapsing under state dues? If reform is genuine, why is transparency missing? Disclose the payment data, enforce council orders, penalise defaulting departments, and ring-fence MSME payments. Until then, every investment claim stands on a foundation of unpaid bills.
Related Posts
-
13,692 Vehicles. 446 FIRs. Zero Masterminds
-
The Arithmetic of Broken Faith
-
The Forged Signature At The Bottom Of Your Inheritance
-
The Oldest Joke in Kashmir: The Manifesto That Forgot Its Deadline: Kashmir's Most Elaborate April Fools' Tradition
-
Cleared Dues, Borrowed Dignity: J&K's Financial Discipline Has a Silent Cosigner
-
A Generation That Has Moved Beyond Old Politics
-
A Hospital That Exists, A System That Doesn’t
-
J&K Is Burning Through Its Water Capital. The Ledger Is Open. The Himalaya Is Signalling Stress. Is Srinagar Responding?
-
POINT TAKEN
-
Same Bill, New Brand: When Ideas Are Judged by Who Owns Them
-
POINT TAKEN
-
Kashmir’s Unfinished Return: Justice Denied For 36 Years
-
The Weight of Unanswered Questions, When the Republic Owes a Reckoning
-
110 Hours of Democracy. Not One Minute for One Lakh Workers
-
The State That Claims 'Ease of Doing Business' Cannot Pay Its Own Suppliers
Leave a comment