K V Rama Krishna
The failure of civil administration to reach the remote areas or the areas of persistent threat and lack of opportunities acted as catalyst to the misery of the locals and forced them to live their life in distress. What came to rescue to an combustible problem is Abrogation of Article 370! What it reaps and how, the author dwells into with rationality and objectivity making it an informative read.
“A tree in nature is in a state of autonomy. It is autonomous insofar as it enjoys the freedom to grow to its full scope as a tree of its kind, and produce fruits characteristic of it. Autonomy in the human context must blend ‘fruitfulness’ with freedom; for freedom is the essence of being human.”
The hybrid war in the valley for decades has created turmoil in the mind of local populace and deprived them of basic necessities and comforts of life making them totally cutoff from the outpacing world. The failure of civil administration to reach the remote areas or the areas of persistent threat and lack of opportunities acted as catalyst to the misery of the locals and forced them to live their life in distress.
The abrogation of article 370 and the steps taken by government to integrate the valley with the mainstream India came as a ray of hope for people of Kashmir and Machhal to achieve success and become economically independent. The situation in Kashmir has come a long way, though the pace of normalcy in this region is slow but indubitably change is taking for the local “Awam”. This is despite the undesirable internet bandwidth restrictions in view of severe terror threat from across the border. Even though Pakistan is trying to export terror, by mobilising violent mobs and orchestrate terror attacks their attempts have been failed by the effective governance and proactive steps taken by the government to boost the engine of economic growth and promotion of equitable development. Indian Army, inconsonance with the Indian Govt policies has reserved some efforts in ensuring the spread of drive prioritizing with upliftment of region, development of infrastructure and thus increasing the standard of living and awareness of the flagship projects by the Govt in achieving self reliance and realizing the dream of Prime Minister of becoming Atmanirbhar in a befitting way.
Various projects have been signposted in the last one year with explicit aim to create durable assets including roads, bridges, protection bunkers, electrification and empowerment of marginalized . The Kashmir valley, away from the fast paced life of conurbation but with full of youth and energy saw a significant growth in employment under the MNREGA scheme and various other programs to develop the area are not only creating job opportunities for youth but also strengthening decentralized participatory planning and panchayati raj institutions to deepen democracy at grass root level. The various facets of assistance include providing quality education through Raghavan Army Good Will School and assistance in sharing of offline lectures and assignments through the staff for the connectivity devoid children of Machhal. Youth empowerment centers were also established for career counselling and training the youth for recruitment in Army for improving physical standards, personality development and spoken English. These centers also act as pedestal for gaining technical knowhow on basic computer knowledge , small scale business administration and most importantly, facilitating employment for the youth in various organizations across the country. All efforts by the Indian Army to buttress the education and youth empowerment sector are in consultation and close coordination with the civil administration and complement the plans of the government especially in the snow cut-off remote regions and further bridging the gaps for inclusion with rest of India.
Women of Kashmir Empowered
Moreover the women have also embarked on the path for Atmanirbharta and getting hold of the contemporary edification and becoming professionally competent to match pace with the budding society. In valley women are most vulnerable section of society, they not only face humiliation but also subject to prolonged depression because of the patriarchal society in Kashmir. They are confined to four walls and has limited exposure to modern communication tools, this has headed to low level of education with limited freedom, lack of awareness and lack of decision making by women in valley. But the war to achieve liberty and equality for the women in valley is taking captivating turn in Machhal as women are infringing the barricades of primitive and steady beliefs and adding new chapters to their life. Machhal being the remote location jam-packed with tough terrain and rough weather has come up as obstruction on the way to achieve the millennium development goal but the courageous women of the area took it as a challenge and left no stone unturned to enhance their skills and match the pace of outgrowing society. Girls of Kashmir are stepping out to move a step ahead of traditional graduation and enhance professional skills through various courses. These efforts are gaining wings with the government’s initiative and Army assistance to boost their confidence and provide a platform to them by launching various schemes like UMEED, Sher-i-Kashmir employment and welfare programme, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, skill development programme and moreover providing assistance & aid to Self-help groups and creating
employment through MNREGA.
Industrial Revolution and Infrastructure Development
Kashmir now is singing new songs of progress, development, unity and is evolving as an epitome of unremitting loco motor determined to achieve its plausible destination. There has been a big push for the projects to develop the infrastructure in Kashmir. Macchal sector once considered to be a backward area because of its remote location has seeded away its past and witnessing a new change with small scale business being setup in the sector. With the MSME aiding the small and medium scale businesses, there has been new ease in doing business which led in amalgamation of traditional business of valley with modern technology taken it to a level higher. Around 80% of Macchal economy is rooted in agriculture, with the new setup of machines and transparency in supply chain management, the farmers of Macchal are able to sell their horticulture products from Kashmir to Kanyakumari with the tag of goodness of Machhal. Walnut, almond, peaches, apples, apricot are the major cash earning crops for the farmers here. The handicrafts of Kashmir are well known for their embroidery work from times immemorial but the products were confined on a smaller scale, with the women self-help group emerging in the sector the mechanisation and production has been double pacing the progress and prosperity in the region. The major advantage of the sector building up in Macchal is its employment potential at low capital cost and the labour intensity is high creating a lot of job opportunities to the youth of area. The set-up of small scale business is acting as the nursery of entrepreneurship often driven by individual creativity and innovation and motivating further more to indulge in the great task of taking country economic growth far ahead.
As part of the electrification project villages of Macchal bowl were also electrified regardless of the geographical challenges. The candid desire gained wings with the government responding to remove the darkness from lives of Kashmiri Awam and introducing “Saubhagya Scheme” for achieving 100% rural electrification. It was a well conceptualized and one of its kind initiative that had leveraged a unique household characteristic in Macchal as the future unfolds in a new way of living. The area was electrified with two types of sources, namely conventional and renewable source by empaneling the houses with solar panels by which the area can now be winter cut-off but not electric cut-off. The eyes of people say it all and for them the provision of electricity was so dramatic that people remember and describe the wonderful instant as a golden era in their life. The objective of “Power to All” came as a god sent to the local populace bringing drastic improvements in their life. The basic necessities of the present day not only include food, water & shelter but also clean drinking water, education, electricity and empowerment. The world of television, mobile phones and internet were a pleasure of few till last year to the people of Macchal. But the changing innovative processes have brought in a new meaning in their life. The day-to- day happenings of the world were brought to their homes giving a different meaning to their life.
Employment Opportunities
Corruption has become a daily norm in Kashmir. Although, Government has taken stringent steps to eradicate corruption and cast the fillings in the loop holes and leakages which prevailed in the legislative system, robust mechanisms could not be enforced due to the rooted organizations which denied to nudge straightforwardly. The woes of the daily labours was pitiable due to underpayments and the lack of knowledge of the government schemes like Direct Bank Transfer (DBT) in which the benefits, pay and subsidies of various social welfare schemes are directly credited in beneficiary bank account. Government has reserved some efforts in ensuring the spread of drive prioritizing with upliftment of region, development of infrastructure and thus increasing the standard of living and awareness of the flagship projects by the Government. The Kashmir valley saw a significant growth in employment under the MNREGA scheme under which each and every household gained a guaranteed employment, thereby providing social protection for most vulnerable people living on Line of Control. Thus this demand driven approach, guarantying job with salary crediting directly in bank account includes additional component meant to strengthen entitlement, ensure transparency and promote explicit bottom up approach. The accountability mechanism has now made people well aware of their salary, able to plan their expenditure and future and thus moving towards a sustainable development goal.
Naya Kashmir
Kashmir’s a beautiful place with unexplored potential. The inception of this new autonomy under the shed of democracy is eroding away the distress, creating jobs, addressing structural economic weakness and boosting infrastructure in the valley. This transformative power is building close coordination among locals and layers of administration thus building faith and solidarity for each other and bringing peace, harmony in the lives of people and pacing their life towards growth and development. After the abrogation of Article 370 from the state, more participation of youth and women in govt program has been seen as a symbol of youth weaning away from fallacy of insurgency and their desire to opt for peace, progress and prosperity in the region. After the abrogation of Article 370 from the state, more participation of youth and women in such program has been seen as a symbol of youth weaning away from fallacy of insurgency and their desire to opt for peace, progress and prosperity in the region. The change has begun; the sun has been seen but the sunshine is yet to be harnessed so that flowers of brotherhood and oneness can be harvested and the slogan of “Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat” can be strengthened.
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