Abdul Basit
The Planning Commission bemoaned the region’s slow growth ten years ago while examining the development situation in Jammu and Kashmir and gave various explanations for it. It claimed that inability to find work and generate income was caused by the climate of armed militancy in Kashmir and low productivity in the agricultural and related sectors. The industrial sector is still in its infancy due to a lack of investment opportunities and poor industrial infrastructure.
The inadequacy of existing strategies for the potential sectors to experience greater economic growth was noted. It went on to say that the state’s weak economic growth has also been attributed to poor fiscal management and poor governance.
The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has been moving toward development over the past two years as a result of government initiatives, including various development schemes carried out under the Prime Minister Development Package that focused on individual beneficiaries and revived long-pending projects that had lain dormant for several decades by removing the obstacles, through ensuring effective and transparent administration.
The UT’s local population has benefited from the use of technology by both the Union and UT governments. A number of procedures have been established in the IT sector, including the provision of and construction of two sizable IT parks, one in each of Jammu and Srinagar, each covering more than 500,000 square feet.
The UT administration also unveiled a real estate policy with a transparent bidding process to distribute government-created “land banks” to private developers, among other initiatives. The development of a network of roads and highways is the sole focus of the JandK government’s comprehensive approach to development.
Nearly every project across various sectors that was ignored has been given new life in order to ensure growth in the valley and allow the UT to catch up to the other states of the nation.
The Modi administration allocated a sizable sum of Rs. 800 billion to the state government in 2015 to launch a number of development projects to convert J.
The advantages of repealing Article 370 are now beginning to benefit the populace. After August. 5, 2019, the J.
Over the previous two years, the J. A road map has been created to ensure that all 10816 million rural households will have access to piped water by the end of December 2021. Currently, 43% of rural households have household water connections, which is double the national average of 21%.
A multipurpose irrigation and power project in Jharkhand was given approval by the Indian government in February 2020 for Rs60 billion. Power projects have been overseen by National Hydroelectric Power Corporation to address the severe electricity shortage in J. 2019 saw the groundbreaking of 20 additional power projects worth Rs100 billion and the inauguration of 15 power projects. Jammu Power Development Corporation Limited (JPDCL) and Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited (KPDCL) were established to assist J. With a comprehensive strategy for all-around human development in the UT, including key industries like tourism, healthcare, employment creation, education, and industrial growth. To ensure that Kashmiri children and youth receive high-quality education, the government has opened hundreds of schools, 50 new educational facilities with 25,000 seats available, and launched scholarship programs that have helped more than 500,000 students thus far. An Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and a new Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) are developing in the UT. For better healthcare services to the J&K region, two All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), seven new medical colleges, five new nursing colleges, and a state cancer institute are being built.
The people of Jammu and Kashmir, especially those from the Valley, consciously expressed their political preference for democracy and the idea of India, which includes peace, pluralism, equality, the right to life and liberty without fear of terrorism, as opposed to the death and destruction inflicted on the people of Kashmir by terrorists.
The concept of India in Kashmir and the ethos of Plural Kashmir are meaningless to Kashmiri society and the rest of the world unless the exiled Kashmiri Pandits are physically returned to their homeland with dignity and are given access to political and economic power.
The Panchayati Raj system’s Zila Parishad law was passed, and after Article 370/35A was repealed, it was expanded to include the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. This was a major step toward establishing democracy and local government at the grassroots level. In other words, it entails bringing governance to those who reside in the farthest reaches of the UT.
Nevertheless, this is J’s first time implementing it. The election process was largely peaceful and normal, which added to the overall positive atmosphere.
Achieving a voting rate of 50% in the UT overall despite extreme cold, the Covid19 situation, and the valley’s boycott politics in the background is no small feat. Kashmiris long for peace and the peaceful enjoyment of their rights to life and liberty because they are tired of the ongoing terror violence that has plagued their region for more than three decades. India is viewed by them as a land full of opportunities. The people of Kashmir Valley have once more rejected separatist rhetoric and religious extremism by opting for democracy, the mainstream political narrative, and a liberal Sufi Islamic way of life. In an effort to win people over, New Delhi is making every effort. Kashmiris must put forth extra effort to combat terrorism and separatism, foster peace and a fresh start for reclaiming their nation’s lost glory.
