Rural Development Problems: Rising Worries with J&K
The implementation of rural development initiatives in Jammu and Kashmir has been a centre-stage worrying issue leaving people and experts to question the efficiency of the state administration. Several schemes have been initiated to uplift the rural areas, but the progress has been slow, with a majority of the villages still lacking basic infrastructure and even employment.
One of the aspects delaying the furtherance of the project is the slow pace of project approval. Other factors contributing include inadequate allocation of funds and poor coordination among different departments of the state government. The great schemes like MGNREGA offer great support in accessing economic gains from employment and rural assets. However, they often run into bureaucratic bottlenecks in execution. Besides, shortage of skill and training facilities adds more woes to rural communities struggling to achieve self-sufficiency.
Experts disagree such woes should not be aggravated by the peculiar geographical and political conditions of the state. Interruption is frequent and sometimes due to harsh weather conditions, thus restricting the time-frame available for effecting development project implementation. Also, no rigorous monitoring of most projects has been done; some remain incomplete, while others are of substandard quality.
There are also voices of the ground who share the villagers' frustration about being neglected by policymakers. "Promises are made, but we see no action," said a local farmer from Budgam.
This will be one of the things to address as Jammu and Kashmir brace themselves for the next elections.
