Before Globalisation and Liberalisation, no nation, economy, people or culture could think beyond national frontiers. However after Liberalisation borders disintegrated, nations became interdependent, economies opened up, people got closer, and cultures experienced an integeration. As travel got easier, competition ruled the world.
We the people of this sub-continent are commonly referred to as Third World countries as we have not been able to reach the level of developed countries. The state of Jammu & Kashmir is widely known throughout globe due to its natural beauty. Compared to the rest of the states in India the economic performance has however put it at the bottom of the pyramid. After all economics matters most. Surprisingly the state is abundant with large and wide range of resource availability, but it has failed completely to avail of its benefits. The tourism sector which is regarded as the boon of its economy is wide open craving for its exploitation and it has been found that only a small proportion has been exploited till now, the rest remains unused. This explains the whole story of incompetence and corruption about our state
This state of affairs of our state can be attributed to reluctance and stubbornness to change. Change is important to be brought about. Though management of change is a cumbersome process or it is resisted by many, but change in positive direction is always welcome. In every sector of our state innovation and creativity have to be pumped in. That will fetch better results. We have an ailing health care, underdeveloped tourism and hospitality sector, obsolete education system. So it needs a massive overhaul.
The state can fare better, if it switches over to deregulation, enhanced accountability. Encourage entrepreneurship and allow private participation - which is wanting. This can be achieved only, if we have necessary and required skills, domain knowledge, expertise and intellect. Thus we need more training institutions, courses in demand, (technical and non- technical), efficient and effective management and administration. The courses which are offered in our colleges and universities are classical and with not much scope in current era, albeit they are to be provided also but we need to bring newer professional courses also. Doing that will give us competitive advantage. Professional education is rare. The states needs to refresh all colleges and universities by providing latest courses in science such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, biochemistry, bioinformatics etc., fashion designing, media courses, business management, paramedical, engineering, computer applications et al widely at undergraduate and post graduate level. This can be done by allowing private participation in education. We have colleges where basic courses such as BSc, BA,& B.com are available in principle which forces the students to opt for other alternatives, such as going to other parts of the country. This diaspora of students of the state for pursuing professional courses and for bright prosperous career drains our economy badly turning it into a flaccid cell.  By having the insight of the healthcare sector of the state, we have few medical institutions and hospitals serving the state, the irony is that the Kashmir has only one maternity hospital serving and functioning at present making human resource vulnerable to all dangers. Similarly the tourism and hospitality industry which is regarded as the boon of the state’s economy is widely untapped because of inefficient and fragile infrastructure. There are no five star hotels in the state to satisfy the needs of the tourists and businessmen. The same is the case for other sectors also.
Does Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and others have monopoly over doing business and its creation? Can’t we produce business leaders like them who earned a name at international level? Can’t we establish corporations like others? We have intelligent youth with potential and calibre to take up any job under any circumstances. All they need is guidance. We can create business by exploiting the states wide and large resources to enhance economies of scale, reduce the burgeoning unemployment, redress states difficulties and problems, uplift poor sections of the society and largely improve the life standards of the people by and large.
Thus the state administration needs to think out of the box. They have to part with those shoddy policies. That alone can lead us to a better future.


( Shahid Akbar hails from Trehgam of Kupwara district. He is currently pursuing MBA  at  Bangalore University Karnataka. Feedback at shahidmba42@yahoo.com

Lastupdate on : Fri, 18 Jun 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 18 Jun 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 19 Jun 2010 00:00:00 IST