IT Sector in Kashmir to Get a Boost From Government to Generate More Jobs

Srinagar, August 23: The local administration in Srinagar has come to the rescue of a business process outsourcing (BPO) located on the outskirts of the city. Launched in 2010, the Srinagar centre of Aegis has about 70 employees, which was about to shut due to the absence of clients. The district administration has told the BPO to retain all its employees and also offered itself as a client against the commitment of raising facility of 2,000 jobs in the next 18 months.

Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar who visited the facility said, "We are working to boost this (IT) sector in the state. It will take some time. We have visited Aegis and we have asked them for a roadmap to increase their strength from 70 employees to up to 2,000 employees. The financial backup will be given by the government."He added, "There is immense potential and a lot of opportunities are available. We only need to tap it properly. We are committed to that."Due to a slowdown in the telecom sector, operations of Aegis from Srinagar had taken a hit.

The BPO was earlier part of the Essar Group and was sold in 2017 to private equity firm Capital Square Partners. Sameera Akhter, an employee at Aegis said, "There are a lot of youths working in call centres here and we like doing this job. I also want to say that we want to continue with this job".

"Government needs to come forward to generate employment in the IT Sector. Without government help, employment in this sector can't be generated. We already have an infrastructure where some 2,000 employees can be accommodated. At present, we are only 70 employees working here. The government needs to come forward and help us," Rahil Khan, another employee said. Decades of uncertainty and violence in Kashmir valley is largely responsible for shutting down of various businesses. The Kashmiri youth are now hopeful that new business avenues will be open in the near future.