The Congress today expressed concern over the "negative" portrayal of Kashmir in prime-time television debates, saying it has hurt the state's tourism sector. "There is a concern over the negative portrayal of Kashmir in prime-time (TV) debates and it has badly affected the tourism of the state," the leader of Congress Legislative Party, Nawang Rigzin Jora said, during a discussion on the budget in the Assembly today. Jora made a strong pitch for corrective measures in this regard. He questioned the absence of the mention of agriculture growth in the budget and highlighted the continuing decline of the sector in the state's GDP. He also asked the government to come up with strong initiatives to address the rising unemployment in the state and appreciated the government for implementing the 7th Pay Commission recommendations. While taking part in the discussion, National Conference MLA Devender Singh Rana asked the government to focus on employment generation, agriculture, power sector, and capacity building among others. Rana also appealed to the government to enhance the wages of unskilled labourers to Rs 350 and sought the state finance department's intervention to remove bottlenecks in the dispersal of widow pensions.
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