SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir has yet again failed to figure among top 20 States/ Union territories in the ease of doing business ranking released by the Government of India on Saturday.
According to the state business reform action plan ranking-2019 released by Union Commerce and Industry ministry, J&K figures at 21st slot in the ease of doing business ranking, reported KNO.
This means Jammu & Kashmir has failed to make much improvement in the ranking despite tall claims by State’s bureaucrats that they have minimized the regulatory burden and simplified procedures for doing business.
In 2018, J&K had figured at 22nd position among 36 States/UTs in the ranking. Interestingly, all the neighbouring states/UTs figure much above than J&K in the ranking.
According to the ranking, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana Punjab figures at 7th, 12th, 16th and 19th position, respectively.
The hill states like HP and Uttarakhand, which have similar geographical features like Jammu and Kashmir, have shown impressive performance and figure at 7th and 11th position, respectively.
The ranking of States/UTs has based on the implementation of Business Reform Action Plan started in the year 2015. Till date, State Rankings have been released for the years 2015, 2016 and 2017-18.
The Business Reform Action Plan 2018-19 includes 180 reform points covering 12 business regulatory areas such as Access to Information, Single Window System, Labour, Environment, etc.
It is worthwhile to mention here that Andhra Pradesh retained the number one ranking. Uttar Pradesh improved to reach the second spot from 12th spot in the 2018 ranking while Telangana slipped from second to the third position.
