Naya Kashmir's jobs, citizens' amenities & democracy: Here's what has changed in one year

On Wednesday, the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh marked their first anniversary since the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which scrapped the erstwhile state's special status. Ever since then, the effort has been ongoing to restore normalcy and to empower the people of Jammu and Kashmir by providing them equal rights and privileges available to citizens across the country.

Here is a look at a few categories where changes were reflected in Jammu and Kashmir a year after the abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A:

JOBS

According to government sources, special recruitment rules have been enacted, whereby 10,000 jobs at all levels would be filled in phase 1. In the case of existing recruits, the probation period has been reduced from 5 to 2 years, which would bring in a huge relief to thousands of youngsters. The Reservation Act was also amended to extend benefits of reservation to 4% Pahari speaking people and  10% for economically weaker sections.

The income ceiling of Backward classes has been increased from Rs. 4.5 to 8 lakh. The residents of the international border have also been extended benefits of reservation. In the case of the weak and underprivileged class, the reservation benefits have been increased from 2% to 4%. Reservation has also been extended to assembly seats for Scheduled Tribes.

CAPACITY BUILDING

While a lot is yet to be achieved by the government on the ground, the administration maintains that they have made an earnest attempt to improve the situation. There has been a 369% increase in sanctioned houses. According to government statistics,  92% of target sanctioned in June 2020 as against 41% in March 2019 which would mean 72,730 houses sanctioned in Urban areas and 77,252 in rural areas (June 2020).

Under the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojna, all households have been electrified before the target date. Under the Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna, J&K health scheme was approved to provide universal health coverage free of cost to all residents of J&K who were presently not covered under Ayushman Bharat. Around 11.45 lakh Golden cards were generated and 82,000 hospitalizations were created so far.

DEMOCRACY

On this front, the government has been heavily criticised for the detention of mainstream leaders. But to counter this the administration maintains that there has been an incident-free Panchayat and Urban local bodies elections. In terms of numbers, 58,54,208 total electorate, 74.1% voter turnout, elected 3650 Sarpanches and 23660 Panches. The voter turnout in the elections to Block Development Councils was around 98.3%. The PSA arrests at the time of abrogation were carried out to ensure that the law and order situation in the Valley didn’t spiral out of control after the stripping of its special status. However, since then, the Administration and the judiciary have released several leaders after multiple reviews.

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DEVELOPMENT PACKAGE

On November 7, 2015, the Prime Minister had announced a development package of Rs. 80.068 crores for strengthening socio-economic infrastructure and balanced regional development of J&K. Comprising 63 projects, the package had aimed at giving a massive push to economic infrastructure, providing a thrust to employment. In June 2018, only 7 projects were complete but by June 2020, 17 projects have been completed. Long pending power projects were revived and expedited. Massive push has been given to transmission and distribution works in the power sector. Around 213 packages were taken up for execution – 128 have already been completed. All 18.16 lakhs households in J&K will be provided household tap connections, 2.93 lakhs connections provide.

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