Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting to review the progress on compliance reduction and deregulation reforms recommended by the national Task Force headed by the Cabinet Secretary, Government of India.
Senior officers present at the meeting included Principal Secretary, Power Development Department; Commissioner Secretary, Forest; Commissioner Secretary, Industries & Commerce; Commissioner Secretary, Rural Development Department; Secretary, Law and Director, Industries & Commerce, Jammu, among others.
During the meeting, the CS took stock of priority reform areas flagged by the Task Force and assessed both the completed compliances and those returned with observations.
He emphasized the urgent need to upload the evidentiary proof of compliance across all priority areas without further delay.
Highlighting the broader vision behind these reforms, Dulloo noted that such efforts are critical to enhance the ease of doing business in Jammu and Kashmir.
He called for mission-mode implementation of the required regulatory changes. He directed the Industries & Commerce Department to ensure that all necessary documentation is completed and report submitted to him about the same.
Commissioner Secretary, Industries & Commerce, Vikramjit Singh, informed the meeting that 434 reform points across various departments had been successfully implemented. Of these, 9 reform points relating to a few departments had been returned by the Task Force with observations.
He assured that as the nodal department, Industries & Commerce is actively working to address these gaps, particularly the nine high-priority areas and will ensure compliance uploads in the coming days.
Director, Industries Jammu, Arun Kumar Manhas, elaborated on the specific areas identified for improvement. These included simplification and digitization of the Change of Land Use (CLU) process, rationalization of minimum road width requirements for different industrial setups in rural areas, amendment of building regulations to minimize land loss in industrial plots, lifting prohibitions on women working in certain hazardous sectors, review of working hour limits under factory laws, removal of business hour restrictions for commercial establishments.
These measures, he noted, will significantly enhance the industrial ecosystem and contribute to a more business-friendly environment in the Union Territory.
It is pertinent to mention that the Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP), launched by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), is a flagship initiative of the Government of India. It aimed at simplifying the business regulations and creating an enabling regulatory environment across the states and UTs.
Since its inception in 2015, BRAP has seen six successful editions. The current edition BRAP 2024, along with BRAP and RCB is the seventh iteration, with a target completion date of March 15, 2025.
The Chief Secretary reiterated that all departments must treat compliance reduction and regulatory simplification as top governance priorities, as these reforms will directly impact economic growth, investor confidence and the employment landscape of Jammu and Kashmir.