Having lived within and outside the state, most of us have a clear picture of why the stylised fact of “Kujah Kaysheer” is such a celebrated notion among all Kashmiris! Homelessness for example is one of the major alarming problems faced by the developed capitalist world.
As a(ny) shock or uncertainty hits and people lose job, the immediate effect is the inability to pay rent. With this the eviction notice comes in and the next moment, a decent citizen is living on the streets in tents or living in a car, scraping food from coupons.
A minimum level of education is another necessity in finding a job almost anywhere in the world. As such the very basic necessity of living a life since you are born comes with a number of challenges to begin with.
Kashmir has been under various regimes for centuries at a stretch where the notion of empathy with the common masses and individual welfare were never a concept thought of.
However, in the modern historic context, the radical move of land redistribution and education for all provided under the ‘Naya Kashmir Manifesto’, a new era of democracy, individual welfare and mutual growth for one and all was envisioned.
The two major policy reforms of land redistribution and free education for all were implemented in the early years of 1950s. Over time as a result of these two radical policy interventions, almost every household in the region got access to land and resources.
The redistribution system proved out to be a sustainable strategy in upholding a long-run welfare of the common masses living in the region.
It has been witnessed over the years that the poorest of the poor in Kashmir have a house of their own to live in most of the cases. Having access to land, a majority of the people have access to kitchen gardens covering a considerable expense of living.
Access to water is a natural bounty and no starkly visible cases of starvation have been registered. The provision of free education has been able to enhance the literacy rate in the region and the job provision by the public sector has equally benefitted households in the region.
However, the geographic peculiarity of the region has kept a widespread industrialization process from mushrooming and blooming in the region. Though on the face of it, it might look like a lost game but this peculiarity has kept the region stable in its income and wealth composition.
The unfavorable and non-conducive nature of the region towards industrialisation has kept the business giants from entering the Kashmir domain. Instead, steadily there has been a rise in the entrepreneurship endeavors undertaken by the locals.
More and more people in the region (both men and women) are getting attracted towards entrepreneurship and self-employment ventures. Lately this trend has shown to strive for a balance between various type of employment outcomes in the region.
Now the question is which type of industrial policy should the governance in Jammu and Kashmir adopt? What is visible from the latest developments happening on the industrial front, it can be put forth that the government is looking forth to inviting big business houses in the region.
But the success of one industrial model in an economy is no guarantee that the same model suits another economy and that its application will yield replicated results! The Multi National Corporation (MNCs) model of industrialisation may look promising based on its success in Delhi and Bangalore but it may turn out to be a radical failure if directly applied to the region like Jammu and Kashmir.
Given the geographic, locational, strategic, political, climatic and social particularities among many other features of the Kashmir economy, the best way to industrialize the region is through boosting the local entrepreneurship.
The benefit of boosting locally driven industrialization comes with both short-run and the long run sustainable development. The economy of Jammu and Kashmir in general and Kashmir region in particular is characterized as a fragile economy.
As such, any policy intervention has to come only after a thorough research and understanding of all the peculiarities associated with the same.
The current rates of unemployment in the region are starkly high. In light of this soaring problem, introduction of a strong industrial policy intending to boost the local production of goods and services can directly target the joblessness problem in the region.
At the same time, the economic leakages can be taken care of when the consumer oriented economy of J&K will turn production centric, satisfying the local demand and markets.
Boosting ventures of local production and giving support to the people of the soil strengthens the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise sector (MSMEs) in the region which has shown a great resilience against all adversities over time.
The scope for MSMEs growth can further be justified by a considerable push in setting up the business an average Kashmiri entrepreneur can get from his family and family resources. Setting up a unit again doesn’t require a degree on paper and anyone with a business vision backed by a strong government policy can be her/his own boss, contributing significantly towards the economy and society.
In a longer run perspective, capitalism and MNCs destroy human lives to a considerable level. The fancy notion of job provision is nothing but a trap of longer working hours and lesser wages.
With the growth of MNC culture the prices soar up and cost of living increases significantly. Small businesses are destroyed and households suffer. More and more people over decades tend to lose access to land resources for example and become tenants.
Not having a house of one’s own (i.e. rent free living), makes a person/household more vulnerable to large scale economic and non-economic shocks. The gap between very rich and very poor increases. The idealistic and homogeneous composition of the population gets distorted.
On the contrary, one right policy intervention can enhance the current fairly idealistic composition of the population in the region (compared to the capitalistic pockets of the country). In the same manner, one wrong policy interference can distort the economic map forever.
As such, it can be concluded that the current policy makers must reconsider their visions and plans. More focus should be put on boosting the locally driven industrialization than to bring in big businesses houses based on the fundamental ideology of capitalism.
Supporting the local MSMEs based industrialization in the region has positive prospectus of ushering in a sustainable era of growth and development in the region. And thus the stylized fact of “Kujah Kaysheer” can be held high for centuries to come.
(Author is a post-doctoral researcher at the ISI-B)
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author.
The facts, analysis, assumptions and perspective appearing in the article do not reflect the views of GK.