Srinagar, Jan 12 : Employees of the Sericulture Development Department, J&K on Monday staged a peaceful protest and made a strong appeal to the authorities to immediately halt the demarcation and proposed transfer of Sericulture land at Alochibagh in Srinagar.
The protest followed reports that officials of the Revenue Department had initiated demarcation of Sericulture land at the Alochibagh complex for its proposed transfer to the Estates Department for construction of VIP quarters. The move has triggered widespread anger among silkworm rearers, farmers, labourers and departmental employees across the Kashmir Valley.
Addressing the protest, employees said the Alochibagh Sericulture Complex is not just a land parcel but the backbone of the Valley’s sericulture sector, which supports thousands of families involved in silkworm rearing, cocoon production, reeling and weaving. They said the complex serves as a daily lifeline for farmers who depend on its mulberry foliage for feeding silkworms.
The protesters said the complex houses critical technical, operational and administrative infrastructure, including training institutes, modern grainages, cocoon warehouses, auction markets, dryers, mulberry farms and nurseries. They warned that any acquisition, even partial, would cripple the fragile sericulture ecosystem and push thousands of marginal farmers into economic distress.
Employees and stakeholders strongly condemned the proposed transfer, terming it anti farmer, anti employment and anti livelihood. They cautioned that if the move is not withdrawn immediately, affected stakeholders from across Kashmir will be forced to assemble and launch mass protests in front of the Civil Secretariat and the Legislative Assembly.
They also recalled that the sericulture sector in Jammu and Kashmir, once a symbol of cultural heritage and rural prosperity, has suffered repeated setbacks due to land diversions and encroachments by other departments. Such actions, they said, have repeatedly undermined government efforts aimed at reviving the sector.
The employees pointed out that substantial public funds have been invested at the Alochibagh complex under major government initiatives, including the Prime Minister’s Special Package, NABARD projects, the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme and Silk Samagra. These investments, they said, were made to strengthen sericulture as a sustainable livelihood option.
They expressed concern over the reported reliance on an old 2018 government order to revive the proposal, noting that the transfer had earlier been stalled after authorities acknowledged the site’s infrastructure, public investment and socio economic importance.
The protesting employees appealed to the highest authorities to intervene without delay, stop the demarcation process and safeguard the Sericulture land at Alochibagh in the larger interest of farmers, employees and the socio economic fabric of Jammu and Kashmir. [KNT]
