Brig Anil Gupta
Jammu & Kashmir state is on the verge of writing a fresh chapter in its chequered history. The people of the state have been the victim of gross corruption, poor governance and colossal financial mismanagement during the last 60 years. The political parties and their leaders have played with the sentiments of the citizens by misleading them with emotive issues. The wealth is confined to a few influential and political families. For the common man even the basic necessities are also non-existent. The net result is the politician class of the state is richest. The state is known as the most corrupt state in the country. It is one of the most underdeveloped states leaving behind even the tribal states. The state cannot boast of 100% literacy even after 60 years of democratic rule. The basic infrastructure like road, transport, energy and communications are the one of the worst in the country. There is nothing much to show in the field of social infrastructure like education, healthcare, childcare, social security etc. This is despite the fact that the state gets the maximum grants and funds from the union government.The reasons are also well known. Rampant corruption, lack of accountability, poor planning, absence of good governance, nexus between the politicians and politico-bureaucratic-criminals nexus can be summed up as the few obvious reasons. In nutshell, despite having been flooded with funds by the successive central Governments, the Gross Happiness Index in our state is much below the desired level.
Jammu & Kashmir is a heterogeneous state and aptly described as a ‘bouquet of flowers.’ It has three different regions with different needs and necessities due to their geographic location and layout. Despite the justified allegations of regional discrimination, all the three regions are unanimous in their demand for development. The people of all the three regions aspire for a better living and improved job opportunities. In this era of virtual world led by electronic and social media with its wide reach, they tend to compare their plight with the rest of their countrymen. They feel highly dejected and disappointed. If you ask a young man in the street that what would he prefer a job or ‘Self-Rule’, his prompt reply will be “job”. Similarly, if parents are given a choice between ‘Greater Autonomy’ and opening of industries that could provide job-opportunities to their children, they would respond in unison for the later.It has dawned upon all irrespective of caste creed or religion that the panacea of their ills is one and only one and that is all round development. For development to take place a corruption free environment backed with good governance is the need of the hour.
The vast majority of the people living in remote and far flung villages have been deprived of even the basic necessities of life. The people have to walk for miles to reach the nearest road head, during monsoons or severe winters in mountainous region they remain cut off for days together, their children have to move to urban areas for education, the sick are not able to get the immediate medical treatment, drinking water is a luxury and electricity continues to play hide and seek. Urban dwellers are a bit lucky but the basic necessities and civic amenities in the towns are woefully inadequate due to their unplanned growth. The public transport system is either obsolete or non-existent, the state and national highways have become virtual death traps resulting in numerous daily accidents. The traffic police are a moot spectator. The drainage system is also the victim of neglect and apathy. Basic cleanliness is lacking. Environmental degradation and rampant cutting of forests has made the eco-system very fragile. The threat of natural disasters one after the other looms large. In nutshell, the citizens have been subjected to a rule of the jungle rather than the rule of law expected from elected governments.
As a result of low gross happiness index the common man is unhappy. He is in a state of despair and awaiting a miracle to happen to uplift his spirits. Can this miracle happen? Certainly, it just needs a change in our outlook and thinking. The need of the hour is a holistic development and inclusive growth of all the three regions of the state. The regional aspirations need to be kept in mind along with their physical assets and constraints. The people need to be made part of the development story or to say that it ought to be a people’s movement. It is easier said than done. An insecure environment is detrimental to development. Thus, there is a need to shun all type of violence and gun culture. Borders have to be made secure to prevent our unfriendly neighbours to interfere in our march towards prosperity.There are a few inherent economic disadvantages that discourage rapid development in the state. According to the Rangarajan Commission Report of 2006; remoteness, poor connectivity, hilly and often inhospitable terrain, vulnerability to natural disasters, a week resource base, poor infrastructure, sparse population and shallow markets are the main economic disadvantages of the State. These disadvantages have kept the private sector, the engine of growth, away from the state. A few restrictive legislations also inhibit the private players from investing in the state. Resultantly, there is hardly any major industry in the state that can generate employment and encourage ancillaries to be established.
The Commission in its report has also commented on the complacent attitude of successive Governments when it states, “Excessive and prolonged dependence on central assistance led to a complacent attitude towards resource generation, fiscal responsibility and accountability for results.”
The need therefore is to identify a developmental model that can negate these economic disadvantages, change the bureaucratic outlook and encourage private investment. We should therefore aim at generating economic activity within the state and mainstreaming the state into national and global economy. Heightened economic activity would also create demand for jobs thus addressing the problem of unemployment. The priority needs to be given to sectors like tourism, basic and social infrastructure and industrialisation. The regional imbalances also need to be minimised and for inclusive growth all segments of the society irrespective of caste, colour, creed and religion need to be addressed. An industry friendly and congenial environment needs to be created for private investment. There is a lot to be done but we need to choose the people who can do all this and lead the march of our beloved state towards the path of development. Let us break from the shackles of the past and vote for the politics of development, prosperity and progress.
(The author is a Jammu based political commentator and security and strategic analyst)
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel