SRINAGAR: The eCommerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart have finally resumed their services of delivering products to the Valley of Kashmir after a gap of more than seven months since August last year.
The services were halted after the Central government abrogated the special status (Article 370) of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the erstwhile State into two Union Territories.
“We have received a communication from three eCommerce sites so far which include the two giants Amazon and Flipkart as well. They have asked us to resume operations,” Muneeb Ahmad, a courier company’s franchisee holder, said.
He added, “Initially, those users (customers) are being provided delivery services who have been using the sites for long. New users can also expect their orders to be accepted and delivered with the next week or so.”
After the internet services were partially restored in the newly carved out UT, the eCommerce websites displayed various errors while a user from the Valley tried to feed in the Pincode. “The pin codes, which were not serviceable at that time, are being unblocked (made serviceable) in a phased manner,” says Muneeb.
The development has not only brought relief to the franchisee holders of courier companies but thousands of youth, working as delivery boys with them, have also been relieved.
Rameez Ahmad, working with ECom as a delivery boy, said, “I was very disappointed and depressed after the internet was snapped in the Valley as it snatched my job. Not being able to earn a penny for all these months, I had been keeping myself busy in various domestic affairs at home.”
He added, “This is a very good development. Although I am not sure of being re-employed in the company I worked for but at least, some other people will now be employed. We have a large army of unemployed people here, you know.”
Many young people, who like to shop online, have also welcomed this step. Many of the youth have already kept their wishlist handy.
Owais Yatoo, from a hamlet in Pulwama, buys his electronic gadgets online. He has been anxiously waiting for his pin code to be made serviceable by Amazon. “I have nearly 13 products added in my Cart. As soon as Amazon makes my pin(code) serviceable, I will buy all of them in one go,” he says joyfully.
With the internet access slowly becoming a reality now after a long period of seven months in the Valley, the avenues of employment for the locals are also steadily increasing. The government now needs to ensure that restrictions on the internet are the last resort to maintain law & order so that businesses get a chance to recover and do not suffer further losses.