Jammu Province is bigger than Kashmir province by approximately 10,000 sq Kms. Total area of Kashmir valley is 15948 Sq Km whereas total area of jammu is 26,293 Sq Km. Unfortunately when anybody talks about Kashmir they assume Jammu is also part of Kashmir. This post is to correct the false narrative set forth by the pro pakistan lobby. Handful of separatists have taken the whole region for a ride by supporting the insurgents and blocking the growth of the region. Jammu is carrying the burden of this UT and is a major contributor to the revenue and economy of the UT.
Revenue generated from jammu is more than what we get from Kashmir. Most of the industries are in jammu region which constitutes 27.8 percent of the JK economy. 56 percent of the revenue is generated from the services sector and 16 percent from agriculture sector. Though there is huge potential in the tourism sector it contributes only 6.98 percent to the GDP of JK UT. JK is not even in the top 10 tourist destinations in India. Jammu has a huge religious tourism which contributed to the local economy including the service sector.
Tourism in Jammu is not promoted by the administration because of evident reasons. There is immense amount of potential but most of the projects and initiatives are not paid heed by the black sheeps sitting in the system. If you look at the roads to some of the tourist destinations , you will get a clear sense of negligence and colossal failure of the administration. Many projects like artificial lake is promised but still the work has not started. In short i can clearly say that if the administration had spend a fraction of money in equitable development which they have spent for the cleaning of dal lake, heritage sites like Mubarak Mandi Palaces Complex tourism would have become the major contributor for JK UT’s GDP.
Step Motherly treatment of Jammu and the discriminatory attitude of the Kashmir based leaders is the major reason why the UT is in debt and waits for the stimulus package from New Delhi. hegemony of the kashmir based politicians and their greed to fill up their coffers is the major reason behind the unemployment problem grappling the region for the past several decades.
Nefarious designs of Kashmir based politicians were unveiled when they removed maharaja Hari SIngh from their path and made nehru expatriate Maharaja to Mumbai under mysterious circumstances. With support of New Delhi , kashmiri despots got a free hand to masquand around with a different face in valley , jammu and new delhi. Kashmiri leaders mostly coming from the elite class destroyed not only the economy of jammu but perpetrated the exodus of the aboriginals of Kashmir, Kashmiri Hindus.
For the last 3 decades their is complete mayhem and the growth of jammu province is unnecessarily held hostage by the kashmir dominated nexus of administration and politicians. It is high time jammu is let free like ladakh so that equitable development of the jammu province which has 10 districts and most of them are underdeveloped and ignored. Jammu province is seeking statehood and recently Jammu Pradesh Peoples Movement(JPPM) has made it very clear that they stand for a seperate state and progress with rest of the states in the country. Jammu Pradesh is desperate to grow and contribute to the GDP of the country.
Equitable development of the Jammu Pradesh , utilization of the revenue generated from Jammu province in underdeveloped districts of Jammu Pradesh , setting up sports facility to hone the talented youth, build infrastructure and develop tourism , create jobs , setup educational institutes , build healthcare facilities and many more pending projects is what people of Jammu want. International Airport in jammu is a long pending demand but till date administration is not able to identify land for the same.
Jammu is an elder brother as far as the revenue is generated or the area is concerned but the power corridors stayed with a handful of Kashmiri leaders. Unilateral ceasefire by nehru on the behest of Sheikh Abdullah was the first step to snatch power from jammu. Second conspiracy was the unfair creation of legislative assemblies and the share of jammu was comparatively small looking at the area. Thirdly fudged census was used to depict a different picture and keeping Jammu in dark. Freezing the delimitation till 2026 was a testimony to their nefarious designs to keep Jammu enslaved so that Kashmir can enjoy the power. Now that people of Jammu have understood their ill intentions there is trust deficit and Jammu doesn’t want to trust the hypocrite politicians of kashmir.
Maharaja Hari Singh was a just ruler and he said that Justice is my Religion. He had setup Darbar move to incorporate the grievances of both jammu and kashmir. He had setup Srinagar as the summer capital and Jammu as the winter capital but the moment Kashmiri hypocrites snatched powers from the maharaja they started working against the interests of Dogras and rest of the communities in the jammu region.
Debt is piles on JK UT and is more than 48000 Cr. More than 60 percent of our expenditure is on salary, pension and interest. Many projects in jammu region do not kickstart and if they do then they never complete. It is for all of us to ponder over it and fill the gap. Why should jammu’s growth be held hostage? Despite having all the resources and the means to be a vibrant state of India why are the people of this region made to suffer because of handful of politicians. With this i leave it on you to ruminate and act upon this.
Very well written the story of negligence of Jammu and it’s potential.