Get cracking on development
To avoid any showdowns, the forces will have to be alert and prevent large gatherings. They must also rapidly man the police posts that have been abandoned and rebuild those that have been destroyed.
For normalcy to return, the government should start working again, schools should be re-opened and businessmen should be encouraged to begin trading. Senior police officers expect violent incidents to continue for a couple of months but are confident that once the plucking season gains momentum by mid-September, people will focus on their livelihood rather than on stirring trouble. By mid-October, snow blocks the passes along the LoC and infiltration dips naturally. Yet, as Waheed ur-Rehman, the president of the youth wing of the PDP, points out, “peace should not be seen only through the number of tourists and peaceful yatras. Boulevard tourism is not a relief. Kashmiris, particularly in rural areas, must be inclusive participants in the development process if they have to become stakeholders in the peace process”. With the Centre delaying the release of funds, particularly for flood relief, Modi has lost credibility in the state. The state and central government officials must now sit down and clear the bureaucratic backlog that is holding up funds for relief and new projects. The slow pace of development in Kashmir is one of the main reasons for the disenchantment with India. Rail connectivity to Kashmir has been marked by sloth and apathy. It has been over 60 years and yet there is still no direct rail link between Jammu and Srinagar. There is only one all-weather road connecting the two premier cities and that also gets blocked at times.
Tourism is faring no better. Despite its many attractions, Srinagar has only two five-star hotels and a daily bed capacity of 40,000, even though over 1.2 million tourists visit the city annually. Horticultural productivity in the state, particularly of apples, is among the lowest in the world. And industrialists are reluctant to invest because of security fears and concerns about land and labour. Despite having enough hydel capacity, the state remains short of power. As a senior official says, “development is done only in fits and starts and has become hostage to the uncertain political situation”.
Drabu, who apart from finance also holds the labour, employment and culture portfolios, seeks to shatter the myth that J&K is a pampered state and the central government has been pumping money into it without much returns. He points out that the biggest cost remains that of running the government and much of the central government grant—around Rs 20,000 crore annually on average—is utilised towards the payment of salaries. He calls for an aggressive development of horticulture to boost fruit productivity and setting up infrastructure to market it, including cold storage and a better road and rail network. He also wants the government to focus on reviving the handicrafts industry, including carpet weaving and shawl making, which were major export items for Kashmir, and to create a brand around them.
NO WAY OUT