Rajan Gandhi
The recent Pakoda controversy has once again brought the issue of unemployment to forefront nationally but the situation in our State is worse among all. As per the last Economic Survey, when it comes to overall unemployment Punjab (4.5 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (2.8 per cent), Delhi (2.7 per cent) and Haryana (2.6 per cent) are much better placed than Jammu and Kashmir which has above 12 percent unemployment rate as against all-India figures of only 4.7 per cent whereas the unemployment rate of females in J&K is 17.1 per cent against all India 3.6 percent. This is despite the fact that J & K has received 10 per cent of all Central grants given to states over the 2000-2016 period, despite having only one per cent of the country’s population. In contrast, Uttar Pradesh makes up about 13 per cent of the country’s population but received only 8.2 per cent of Central grants in 2000-16. That means J&K, with a population of 12.55 million according to the 2011 Census, received Rs.91,300 per person over the last sixteen years while Uttar Pradesh only received Rs. 4,300 per person over the same period. Our State received Rs.1.14 lakh crore in grants over the sixteen years which is more than a quarter of the Central funds disbursed to the 11 special category states in that period. Where has all the money gone into is a million dollar question with no one to answer.
Our state is experiencing turmoil and unrest for almost three decades. Whether peace emerges from development or vice versa is a hot debate but nobody can deny the fact that J&K is bestowed with substantial human and natural resources, but at the same time it is struggling with unemployment and under development. It seems there is a mismatch between the quality of human resource and resource potentialities of the region .To kick-start the process of development what we require is not the big investments but simply a sound policy to address this problem. J&K expects to witness 22.7 million tourist arrivals every year by 2020 but are we having infrastructure to cater to their demands and the answer is a big no. No area or plan has been earmarked for tourism, no special incentives for hotel industries or for that matter even no specialized courses for tourism in our universities. Our tourism sector has the capability to absorb huge manpower, provided they are professionally trained. Institutions offering courses in hotel management, catering, hosting, mountaineering, trekking, travelling, winter and water sports, paragliding should be established immediately which will improve the service quality in accordance with the international standards. Tourism is the fastest growing industry in the world with the highest returns to investment along with the highest job generation potential which acts as a catalyst for narrowing urban- rural development gap thereby addressing even the issue of rural-urban migration – a very important development issue.
Another area seeking immediate attention is horticulture and floriculture. Though horticulture is the mainstay of the rural economy, providing employment to large number of local inhabitants with an apple production of 20 lakh metric tons of fresh fruit every year, including 50 thousand c-grade pre-falls and culled apple yet it is astonishing to see that our State completely lacks a network of small scale agro – processing units that can convert the fresh fruit into a number of bi-products with value additions. No small scale industries producing quality jams, fruit juices, pickles have been promoted . The State is also a major exporter of walnut and our international market share is about seven per cent but no specific policy is in place to increase this share. Same is the story of floriculture which despite establishment of one odd Tulip Garden remains stagnant with no future expansion plans. J&K is famous for its small-scale and cottage industries such as carpet weaving, silks, shawls, basketry, pottery, copper and silverware, paper-mâché and walnut wood. The handicrafts industry has received little priority from the Government despite its large employment base and exports potential. Government should immediately introduce specialized courses on paper mache, carpet weaving and Basohli paintings. Handicraft has potential to engage about 4 lakh artisans. Being environment friendly, the activities in this sector do not require large investments and it is labour intensive with large employment absorption potential. It has the ability to penetrate the international markets. But no serious attempt has been made to link this sector to our curriculum with no graduate or post graduate course offered with business management degrees in the handicraft sector.
Same is the story of our industrial policy which despite attractive incentives along with a single-window clearance mechanism has not been able to attract major industries. The very fact that J&K stands 22nd among Indian States in rankings based on ease of doing business and reforms implementation speaks itself of the present state of affairs. Though the Skill Development Policy 2012-17 and Sher-e-Kashmir Employment & Welfare Programme for the Youth 2009 are undertaken by the Government to develop the skills of the indigenous people of the State to offer better employment opportunities but due to lack of industries and prevailing work culture, no substantial job opportunities are there for our youth. There is an increasing feeling found among the masses and think- tanks that the unrest in the Kashmir valley is wholly and solely be attributed to the lack of development efforts and rising unemployment which may be partially true but that can be said about Kashmir division, there is no excuse for Jammu region and clearly will to do something different is missing. Our State Government has failed to develop a single SEZ despite the fact there are a total of 436 SEZ of which 274 SEZ of IT/ ITES / Electronic Hardware/ Semiconductor/ Services and even Handicrafts & Carpets have 3 but we have none. A Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is an area in which business and trade laws are different from rest of the country and their aims include: increased trade, increased investment, job creation and effective administration. The benefits a company gains by being in a SEZ may mean that it can produce and trade goods at a lower price, aimed at being globally competitive. The developer submits its detailed proposal to the concerned State Government which has to forward it within 45 days to the Board of Approval or it can be submitted directly by developer. Once approved by Board of Approval centre notifies the SEZ area and units can be established accordingly. Our State Government should immediately rope in some developers for at least one SEZ each at Jammu and Kashmir preferably Infocity ( IT based) and try to bring in companies like Infosys, TCS , Wipro, HCL which will not only solve placement issues of our technical institutions which despite having the best talents are made to run from pillar to post even for a simple internship. Our youth right now have no option but to leave their ailing parents to pursue career opportunities outside the State.
Water resource nowadays is the subject matter of prosperity and someone has rightly predicted that one of the world wars would be fought on water resources. Our water resources are comparable to the underground hydrocarbon resources of the Middle East and Central Asia as the energy produced from water is eco-friendly and non- exhaustible. With a capacity to produce almost 20,000 MW of power-with an employment potential of over one lakh jobs but thanks to our lackadaisical policy we are the worst power crisis state. Government should sign all MoU for any power project with a simple clause of 70 % job stake for locals at all levels. Let the State Government establish work groups of unemployed doctors under supervision of retired doctors and provide them special loans and incentives to develop small hospitals and Primary Health Centres. On similar pattern graduate-post graduate unemployed youth along with retired teachers be allowed to open schools with Government financial assistance. All these measures will not only provide job opportunities but also help State to develop parallel health and education sector.
‘Dry port’ initiative is a step in right direction which will give boost to industrial development but many more such initiatives are required to explore employment opportunities. The potential sectors of our economy like horticulture, handicrafts, touri-sm, and water resources are like ‘sleeping giants’ and need a vibration by the hands of professionally trained local youth with entrepreneurial spirit and manageable amounts of capital. With government’s hands tied up to create requisite jobs due to financial constrains, it has found a unique solution in the shape of SRO 202 which caps the salary of new recruits for a period of five years and in some cases this salary is even below minimum wages. It is not the business of the government to do the business but to create a suitable climate for the local private sector to emerge and flourish. The right approach to provide such a business climate is possible if we align our resource potential smartly. This should serve the base line of our development model. Include job creation as a major provision in all government policies. Today, there is no incentive for job creation. The government needs to seriously look into this. One hope instead of fighting over regional bias in Government job lists, our leaders will rise to the occasion, leaving aside their party affiliations work in tandem to provide best opportunities for our youth.
“Resources are hired to give results, not reasons.”
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