Omar Abdullah rules out subsidy for reopening cinemas
December 17th, 2011 - 11:01 pm ICT by IANSSrinagar, Dec 17 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Saturday ruled out any government subsidy for reopening of cinemas in the Valley.
Speaking to media persons on the sidelines of a function in Kashmir University where on-the-spot employment orders were given to over 1,000 youth in different private companies, he said: “Cinemas have always been a private enterprise. It is not the government’s job to establish them.
“If anyone is interested in establishing them, we can look at that. I am not in the business of either establishing cinemas here or giving them subsidies.”
His father and union Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah had said here earlier this month that cinemas and liquor shops should be reopened to provide some entertainment to the tourists who have been returning to Kashmir in large numbers.
The elder Abdullah had attracted a lot of flak from the various separatist and religious leaders for his statement.
All cinemas halls and liquor shops were closed in the Valley following the outbreak of the armed violence here in the early 1990s.
Except for one cinema hall, which is still operating in Srinagar, all other cinemas have been either closed or converted into healthcare centres and makeshift headquarters of the security forces.
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