– By Tanya Mittal
– Intern IPPCS’21
– Student, Lady Shri Ram College
Introduction
For decades, uneasy governance has prevailed in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), wrecked by incessant military incursions, terrorist attacks and police curfews. J&K was promised to be involved in the mainstream of Indian politics to safeguard it from falling into foreign hands, with the abrogation of Article 370. This 70-year-old provision had given special autonomy to the state. One year later, here we are, inching towards normalcy in the region, pledging for the residents to have equal access and enjoy the same rights, privileges and facilities as the rest of the country. Let’s look at the development initiatives introduced in the region through the course of this article.
The abrogation of special status has extended the reach of Parliament and Indian Constitution over the region in its entirety. The region, rife with separatism, communalism and religious intolerance, saw a bill to divide the region into two parts (Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh), both under the direct control of the Central Government. The reorganization appendix gives an insight to which former laws passed by the state have been retained, repealed, and which central laws have been extended. For example, 164 laws in total – 153 State laws and 11 Governor’s Acts – have been repealed; 166 state laws have been retained; 7 state laws have been retained with amendments; 106 central laws have been made applicable. The Right to Information Act, 2005 and the Representation of People Act, 1951 are among the laws being extended to the Union Territory, in their entirety.
Reduction in Corruption
With corruption almost becoming second nature to the political elites and administrators, the immediate casualty in J&K has been effective governance and justice. This has undermined the trust in democracy and shattered their faith in the legitimacy of the politico-administrative setup, posing a direct challenge to peace operations. Pre-abrogation, anti-corruption agencies were not allowed, and RTI (Right to Information) was not implemented. The situation has been relieved since then, paving the way for curbing corrupt practices. For instance, the CMS-India corruption study reported that in 2017-2018, the Central Government spent Rs. 8227 per person in rest of India whereas in J&K it spent Rs. 27258 per person, (despite a lower population rate) which was eventually not availed by each and every person equally.
There’s a hindi proverb, Jaisa Raja Waisi Praja, [like (the) king, like people]. This imbibes the overall need for accountable leaders in J&K. Citizens have witnessed frequent house arrests of their leaders frequently and this is a discouraging sight! After 370, the state administration invoked the Public Safety Act (PSA) against 444 persons out of which nearly 300 have been released so far. While 51 of them were set free on the orders of J&K High Court, others were also freed after administrative reviews, with the conditions that they will not issue any (political) statements.
Involvement of the youth in mainstream
Now is the time to renew ties with the region by initiating a series of serious and sincere interlocution measures to win over the confidence of the alienated population i.e the Youth of Jammu and Kashmir. It is necessary to focus on local issues and nurture new local leadership. Higher degree of financial autonomy in terms of better job prospects for youth and flexible property rights.Assembly elections will provide more political options for the youth to contest/ (and) choose from.
Awam Ki Baat, a novel initiative of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, aims at disseminating the progressive steps taken by the administration and seeks public feedback to make the process interactive, participative and people centric. It gives the youth a platform to channel their energies in the right direction, like participation in governance.
A major concern that continues to affect the youth, is Narcotics, posing a challenge to the security forces, the local administration and the Union government alike. From 201 instances of youth joining radicalized outfits in 2018, the situation has slowly been brightening, with 167 such incidents being recorded in 2020 and 20 in the current year.
Despite these numbers, the security forces have been working round-the-clock to ensure any and all chances are given to the radicalized youth to drop their arms and surrender to the security forces, who work with the local police to help such youth undergo de-radicalization, through various education and skill development programmes aimed at giving the youth other avenues to explore and nurture their talents. The local police also work with the health administration in the Union Territory to ensure proper de-addiction measures are applied to take the youth out of the menace of drug addiction, while also taking care of their psychological well-being.
Another cause for concern is the radicalization of said youth through online means, especially through the various social media channels. Since August 2019, the union government has taken the drastic, but necessary step, to establish a shutdown of many internet services in the area, with the restoration of the same coming into effect as the whole country started coming out of the nationwide lockdown in the latter half of 2020. While considered draconian, and in many cases unnecessary, this step has been necessary to curb the dissemination of material used for the radicalization of the youth, by either spreading unsubstantiated news about the government’s efforts to bring peace to the valley and beyond, or by stoking the feelings of apathy and anger towards the security forces of the area. It is undoubtedly true that these internet shutdowns have adversely affected all sections of the populace. But, these drastic steps were necessary to try and bring about an end to the online radicalization the youth experience, sometimes at the touch of a few buttons.
Public Delivery of Healthcare :
Due to the disputed articles 370 and 35A, there was irregular investment by the private hospitals in J&K, until present times. According to media reports, to strengthen the J&Khealth system, a budgetary allocation of Rs. 963 crore (11 million GBP) has been made under the National Health Mission, for this year. Two premier medical teaching institutes (All India Institutes of Medical Sciences, AIIMS) are in the process of being set up in Vijaynagar area of J&K’s Samba district and in Awantipura in the South Kashmir.
Economic Development :
The pandemic has had a significant impact on the region’s economic growth, especially in the tourism sector. As tourism occupies a central role in the economy of the region and is crucial to support local business, the government has invested further in the Khelo winter games, with a long term objective of making J&K an international attraction for winter sports and games. This increase in tourism will also bring with it growth in small scale artisans and craftsmanship such as garment makers, rugs and silk products which are already popular worldwide. To further aid and promote MSMEs in the region, the Small Industries Development Bank of India and the Chamber of Commerce have entered into an MoU to increase credit facilities available to local entrepreneurship and businesses. Local commerce bodies and civil society groups are also organising webinars to increase local knowledge regarding the facilities available to MSMEs under the Central Government’s schemes.
Apart from these, over 70 central government schemes for rural development have been initiated in the region to facilitate greater integration within both the Jammu and Kashmir region, as well as with the rest of the country.
Education :
Education is directly linked with the growth of the economy. Hence, the government has been taking steps to enhance the education system and move ahead in the development stage which is indicated by setting up premier institutions such as IIT, IIM, NIFT, NIMC. Such quality educational organizations will be accessible to the youth right in their state. This aims to bridge the wide gap prevailing between curriculum and industry and infuse confidence into the students.
Earlier, the lack of effective monitoring led to the quality of education being subpar. Now with the abrogation of 370, the RTE act will now be applicable for free and compulsory Elementary Education to children of 6-14 years with a proper monitoring and impact assessment.
Conclusion :
Kashmir is known for its glorious past and it is high time that this glory returns to the valley. It is important to remember the land being fought over in Kashmir for years is not as important as the people and their right to peace, security and to enjoy the fruits of development!
References
- https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/kashmir-india-modi-hails-path-breaking-lockdown-190815053324652.html
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/06/india-kashmir-pakistan-will-go-to-any-extent-to-protect-kashmiris-special-status
- https://www.fairobserver.com/region/central_south_asia/kashmir-war-conflict-india-pakistan-peace-south-asia-politics-news-this-week-71417/
- https://www.census2011.co.in/census/state/jammu+and+kashmir.html
- https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/scrapping-article-370-to-bring-immense-benefits-for-j-k-ladakh-president-119081401595_1.html
- The trade and commerce of Kashmir under Dogras (1885-1925 a.d.) – Parvez Ahmad
- Law, Governance and Gender in Indian-Administered Kashmir – Seema Kazi
- Frontline and The Hindu articles
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