Launching of UMEED, the cherished Women’s Empowerment Project at Budgam, in a spectacular function in which a galaxy of State and Central leaders were present, may be called the precursor of NC-Congress coalition for the next election spree in the State. Rahul Gandhi, the Vice President of All India Congress Committee, apparently left the question of final decision on Congress-NC alliance to the discretion of Congress High Command and reserved his opinion on the subject. One can understand that behind the camouflage lay his positive comment of massive progress of the State in various areas of activity like tourism, road connectivity, Panchayats, women participation and above all change in the sentiment of the people as he put it.
Rahul’s no-response on apparently controversial issues like impact of new leadership in Pakistan on Indo-Pak relationship, AFSPA, selection of Narendra Modi as the BJP Election Committee Chairman, his Prime Ministerial candidacy etc. reflects his calculated approach to debatable issues as he has tried to send a message across the board that the policy of the leading mainstream political party of the country has to flow through proper channels and cannot be brought to the public domain at random. But he made no bones of the immediate mission that brought him to his Kashmir with which he has historical ties, as he put it, and rightly so. Progress of Jammu and Kashmir, employment of the youth, involvement of Kashmiri women in the development process, empowerment of Panchayats and peace and prosperity of Kashmir are the prioritized items on his agenda.
Nevertheless announcing the launching of UMEED project in conjunction with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, it was disclosed that the Union Government had sanctioned Rs. 750 crore for this programme under which around 1 lakh self-help groups of women will be formed for 9 lakh women of the State for their empowerment. Yet in another equally generous gesture of largesse, the Union Rural Development Minister, speaking on the occasion announced that 10 lakh rupees per year would be granted to 4200 Panchayats across the State as untied funds besides normal allocations made for various developmental schemes. Untied funds means that the Panchayats would be able to utilize these funds for various developmental activities in their respective Panchayati halqas. This is part of financial empowerment of the Panchayts
Cumulative impression gathered from the statements of the leaders who had assembled on the occasion is that the thrust of policy planners is on a couple of areas like youth employment, women participation in asocial and political activities and strengthening the Panchayati institution in the State. While various schemes of opening avenues of employment for the youth have been in operation for last couple of years with positive results, more steps have been taken towards empowerment of Panchayats on the ground. But the third component of progress viz. women empowerment had to be emphasized and streamlined. By announcing the UMEED project, this shortcoming is likely to be overcome. It is in this context that the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah made a forceful statement about the positive role, which the women in the State are called upon to play. Already 33 per cent reservation has been made for women in Panchayat elections. The model for women empowerment under a scheme like UMEED has already been floated in Amethi, the election constituency of Rahul Gandhi to which the Chief Minister has made a personal visit. The example is to be repeated in the case of Kashmiri women. Already a group of women that has visited Andhra and other States interacted with about 300 women during their interaction and studied the functioning of women groups under schemes like UMEED. They have given a good impression of the success of the scheme and urged the Government to implement it throughout the State. They disclosed that they had enrolled 3,000 members and would eagerly carry forward the programme of women participation in developmental projects. Earlier only four blocks of the State were brought under the scheme but now the entire State comes under its fold. This should augur well for the emancipation of the women who need to tackle many social problems. For example female foeticide, drug addiction, school drop outs and many other areas of social aberration can be and should be managed effectively by the groups of women who are brought under UMEED programme.
In our estimation, by identifying three main areas in which the administration has stakes, policy planners have hit upon the head of the nail. These pertain to youth, women and society as a whole. Kashmir observers have usually attributed the backwardness of the State and also the reason of turmoil to the flawed policy of not reaching the grass root level in the State. This shortcoming is likely to be done away with once the trilateral thrust becomes cognizable.
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