Rekindle Kashmir

J K DADOO

I ATTENDED the Kashmir Central International Conclave at FIEO’s Niryat Bhawan on December 19, 2023 for about four hours. Organised well by Dr. Asif Iqbal, president of the Indian Economic Trade Organisation (IETO), in collaboration with Kashmir Central news magazine, it had two sessions – first one on ‘Strengthening Long Standing Ties For Trade & Development -2024 Game Plan’ which I will only touch upon, as I had reached just a few minutes before its conclusion. The second one on which I was slated to speak was titled ‘Getting Trade & Commercial Outlook On Development Of Kashmir’.

Hearing the conclusion of the first session, I found Bikram Pandey Kaaji, chief of the Himalayan Expeditions Agency, extolling the contributions of Sir Edmund Hillary in educating the Sherpa community with English & proper schools in Nepal as per Buddhist tradition. As a result, in 55 years, Sherpas have moved on rapidly & now run an airline in Nepal, with Sherpa women flying helicopters & guiding foreign mountaineers to Mt. Everest. Sherpas now speak with an American accent & are based in many international cities. His purpose was to encourage the Kashmiri community to also urge the youth of Kashmir to take the path of adventure tourism & create a Switzerland on this paradise on earth. He underscored that Gulmarg was one the best skiing resort globally & Dr Karan’s Singh’s dream of a Buddhist circuit development in Kashmir was important, as there are 100 crore Buddhists today. He also dwelt upon creating a Himalayan holiday haven by linking Srinagar in the five major tourist destination belt on this mid-Himalayan range viz Kathmandu, Bhutan, Sikkim & Lhasa. I have posted his suggested tourist map on LinkedIn two days back, for consideration of the Tourism & Civil Aviation secretaries & their director generals.

The Ambassador of Papua New Guinea praised India for its rapid economic development, its rise as an economic power & its mission in becoming an industrialised nation by 2047. His own country had got independence from Britain only in 1975, & is trying to expand ties with India, especially during our PM’s visit there in the past.

In the second session, the moderator Dr D K Giri opened the discussion by stating that Kashmir stood today on the cusp of development, with no blockades in further progress & prosperity. Manorama Bakshi, vice president, India Kashmir Samaj felt that a SWOT analysis should be done of Kashmir today & policies made accordingly to facilitate its smooth revival.

Shams Khwaja of Constitutional Law Lab felt that the biggest challenge for Kashmir & its administration was to revive its economy, through strong policies & strong implementation. He also focussed on collecting feedback from grassroots, instilling the feelings of ‘insaaniyat’ & democracy, & going the whole hog for all-round progress of Kashmir. He even differed with the apex court, as he strongly felt there was no need to intervene in the rapid process of ushering prosperity into the region, without corruption. Hence no need for stipulating elections by September 2024.

Shaikh Ahmed, ex-president, Kashmir Chamber of Commerce & Industry, lamented that India’s share in global exports was just 1.4% & Kashmir was not even 1% of our share.

He suggested strong government support to facilitate exports from Kashmir. He felt sour that the only international flight to Sharjah from Srinagar had been discontinued. As a member of the Carpet & Silk Export Promotion councils, his experience has been that without direct facilities for international cargo movement, goods have to come to Delhi/Mumbai & then exported, adding hugely to costs.

Dr Samir Shah, chairman of IT Association, advocated facilitating IT infrastructure in the state to focus the energy of the Kashmiri youth on the IT sector. A road map for IT development should be prepared by the state, with full support of the centre, he felt. He suggested that a team go to Bengaluru & invite the IT sector to set up shop in Kashmir. For the engineering graduates passing out from Kashmir, he demanded an IT park be developed here. Incidentally two IT parks spread over half a million sq feet of space have been announced, one each for Jammu & Kashmir .

Dr Ibrahim was passionate about the ‘ground realities of New Kashmir’ as he put it. He was optimistic that with no Article 370, no politics, no Pakistan, “we must embark upon the process of consolidation & let the youth discover their true potential. No plundering of government resources should take place & the NEP provisions must be fully utilised to educate the youth in the right frame of mind. Good citizens, good souls, good ethics is the need of the hour, and only then will entrepreneurs come forward & show their mettle”. Kashmiriyaat & coexistence are a must, he reiterated.

I spoke with facts & data about the export potential of 11 famous Kashmiri products & the astounding prospects of tourism in the state, the overriding services sector. I also dwelt upon the agencies which could facilitate exports from the state, the infrastructure already being put into place & action being taken for all-round development of Kashmir, after the announcement of the reconstruction plan of J&K worth Rs 80,000 crore as per PM in 2015, of which 22000 crore is for Ladakh & not fully spent so far.

I made the following points relating to commerce & industry based upon his experience & research done with respect to J&K.

• The state GDP is $ 28 billion & is expected to double in five years if the present trend continues. J&K produces mainly agro products, textiles, handloom & handicrafts with Poshish as a leading brand, & abounds in tourism.
• From 2019- 2023, the FDI of J&K is $7 million as per official figures, while the country in 2022-23 is likely to touch $ 70 billion.
• Total exports from J&K are $90 million in 2022-23, while India touched $422 billion last year.
• The state produces quality handicrafts with walnut carved furniture & cricket bats or willow, taking the lead. In textiles, it is world famous for its Pashmina shawls & stoles, skillfully embroidered sarees, suits, jackets, exquisite silk & woolen carpets, & tops in fur coats & caps, though they are banned now. In agro products, fresh fruits like apples, pears, plums & cherries are produced in large quantities, while dry fruits like walnuts, almonds & raisins are in great demand.
• I then outlined the agencies that must act to boost exports from the state. For handicrafts, the Export Promotion Council (EPC), for handicrafts, for willows, the sports goods EPC; for textiles, the silk EPC; for carpets the carpet EPC & for all agricultural goods, Agricultural Products Export Development Agency (APEDA), must create a strategy to maximise domestic production & then an action plan to cater to the domestic & foreign demand for these commodities. Exporters must be given their due share in participation in domestic fairs & exhibitions by the above agencies, as also foreign fairs held throughout the year.
• Ministry of Commerce must provide adequate funding under Market Access Initiative (MAI) scheme for J&K because of its super quality products generating large demand overseas, with proper exposure. Our 155 odd ambassadors abroad should also be sounded to push J&K products in the local markets where good premium is feasible.
• As regards export infrastructure in the state, I dwelt upon the setting up of inland container depots, high speed transport networks & logistics parks which are coming up. Encouraging export oriented units is a priority of the state, as also facilitation for film production. JK Trade Promotion Organisation (JKTPO), is the model agency to spearhead all these projects.
• Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link including the Chenab bridge, will provide reliable connectivity & all weather transport mode to the state.
• Similarly, Jammu, Udhampur, Srinagar, Baramulla National Highway will connect Jammu to the Kashmir Valley.
• The Zozila tunnel, a 14-km stretch between Srinagar & Leh will enable creation of all round progress in that area.
• For hydro power, the Salal dam, the Dulhasti power plant & Baglihar hydro plant will take care of all domestic power needs & also create room for export of power.

Turning to other programmes of different ministries to inject all-round stimulus for growth in J&K, I outlined the following initiatives:

1. a) Last year the allocation for rural development was more than Rs 4600 crores, covering 26600 panchayats & nearly 307 blocks where elections were held. This is a substantial amount which can raise the rural standard of living appreciably.
2. b) Under MNREGA, the state has planned 426 lakh man days, which can take care of the unemployed in a robust manner.
3. c) Internet connectivity is being provided to all the panchayats
4. d) Under the PM housing & sanitation programmes, a large number of houses, latrines & community sanitation complexes are being created
5. e) A 6000 km of black topping of roads is underway which will suitably improve the transportation time between different parts of the state
6. f) It is reportedly admitted that 50 lakh youth from J&K participated in sports in the last few years, a record of sorts.
7. g) J&K has the distinction of being sanctioned two AIIMS, & one IIT & IIM, from where qualified students will emerge & can set up their own startups with funding from DPIIT.
8. h) Since becoming a Union Territory, 800 central laws have been reportedly applied to J&K to fully integrate it with the nation.

It is amply clear that the PM Development Package (PMDP) is reviving dormant projects & focussing reach of all benefits to the local population, through a transparent system of administration. The vision of a Naya Kashmir is seen as a reality now, if implementation on ground improves & politics takes a backseat in a region which had too much of it to handle.

(J K Dadoo, IAS (retd), has had a seven-year tenure as joint secretary & additional secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and also holds a masters in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA))