Ashraf Wani
Author : G.A. Qureshi
Along with its scenic beauty, the valley of Kashmir is gifted with many brilliant minds some of whom are writers who contribute towards the socio-economic and political awakening of the society through the medium of their works. Social contribution aside, writers become a source of creating treasures of joy for the readers. If you happen to be a lover of reading social genre combined with a tinch of statistics, you got to read the book titled as ‘Poverty in Jammu and Kashmir State’. The Book is written by G.A Qureshi, former Director General, Economics and Statistics, J&K who also has the honour of being the author of first Economic Survey of J&K 2006-07 when he was serving as Director General Economics and Statistics, Planning and Development department. Mr. Qureshi has also been the Chief Editor of Quarterly Development Journal, “Janib-i-Manzil”. Besides, he has contributed around 30 research papers published in various Journals in both English and Urdu languages. The book under review was recently released by N.N Vohra, Governor, J&K at Rajbhavan, Srinagar during a simple function. The first great thing about the book is that it is one among the very few works published in its category in the recent times. Although great many authors are found to be wrting articles and write-ups about the issue of poverty but a full fludged book on the theme is a rarity.
The book has been published by Dilpreet Publishing House, New Delhi and is spread over 400 odd pages fragmented in ten well organized chapters excluding its Foreword, Preface and the Prelude. The book opens with a well written introduction about various definitions and manifestations of poverty with a special focus on poverty conditions in J&K state. Meticulously drawn staistical inferences from the data are presented in the book across all the chapters. Although the book has maninly attempted to focus on poverty issues in J&K yet it has greatly drawn from global and national refernces regarding the problem of poverty and social deperivation. UN Millennium Development Goals and India Vision-2020 also find a reference in the book. Besides, the book gives historical perspective of poverty situation in the state as well.
The book is written in a very plain and simple language making it a choice reading for general readers in addition to the development experts. The author has genuinely attempted to present a critical review of various Govt sponsored poverty reduction schmes such as IAY, SJSY, MGNREGS, NRLM etc and highlighted their impact as well the loopholes. Various poverty reduction strategies and methods have been recommended by the author for the consideration of the government in the concluding chapter of the book. Overall, the book is a great blend of easily comprehensible narration and a well crafted statistical presentation and analysis which could be utilized as source of reference for better policy formation and effective implementation of various poverty reduction programmes in the State. The book can also appeal to a large score of students, teachers and scholars who aspire to gain insight and knowledge about the critical issue of poverty. I do not want to conclude without mentioning here the quote from Nelson Mandela written on the front cover of the book,”Poverty is not an accident. Like slavery and apartheid, it is man-made and can be removed by action of human beings”.
(The reviewer works as Social Development Specialist under Housing for All Mission with J&K Housing Board)
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