Government’s outreach measures in Jammu & Kashmir

Along with the abrogation of Article 370 and the withdrawal of the special privileges in the state of Jammu & Kashmir, India has also imposed a strict curfew in the state, rushed more paramilitary forces to the territory and arrested most of the political intelligentsia of the state.

These acts followed the Indian Government’s August 5 decision scrapped the special status granted to Jammu & Kashmir and had divided the state into two Union Territories, namely Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

Most of the state spent the festival of Bakrid under the strict watch of the armed forces and given that no major untoward incident has taken place in the state, India has decided to relax the restrictions imposed and has also initiated confidence-building measures among the local populace.

What is the Indian Government doing?

• The Indian Government plans to start the release of imprisoned political leaders from the valley. This will, however, take place after the intelligence agencies have verified that there is no threat to the leaders or to the peace & stability in the state.
• To improve the situation of people from the state by providing them stable employment, the Indian government is planning to recruit over 50,000 young people into the Paramilitary forces of India like the CRPF, BSF and CISF from the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
• The government is also planning to set-up district-level ?skill planning? committees which will comprise of representatives from the industry, academics and corporate entities.
• One of the key focus areas for the former state would be the development of the food-processing and dairy industries.
• To provide other sources of employment, the Indian Government plans to hold career counseling sessions which will be done with the help of the corporate sector.

Why are these measures necessary?

The Indian Government has taken a bold step in integrating the state of Jammu & Kashmir with the rest of India. However, now the Government needs to show its concerned side, lest the people of the state play victim to the propaganda of the Pakistani influenced state players. This approach of handling a domestic conflict is known as the carrot and stick policy.?