One brick at a time

It has been my attempt on this blog to write my feelings as events unfold. As a result, many of my posts are political whereby I offer my analysis of the current political happenings in Kashmir. Some other posts are non-political while others are outright silly. I do not attempt to be an all knowing person, but I do have a fair knowledge of the political atmosphere brewing in Kashmir. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that I am involved in politics myself. 

Today I would like to further develop a couple of the ideas that I have been writing about in the last little while. My goal is to analyze in detail all the possible employment and developmental avenues for Kashmir, and this I seek to accomplish by presenting my case in a series of posts where I will try to develop each idea as comprehensively as I can. This post is going to deal with an issue that I consider is of utmost importance if we seek to utilize our limited resources wisely. It deals with remedying our over-burdened and inefficient government service by curtailing the operations of inefficient departments. 

I have mentioned in my earlier posts that we all are aware that most Kashmiris would rather be employed in the government services if they could get a chance. This seems to be the norm and I do not fault anyone for desiring a stable and sustainable form of income. In particular, the last two decades have seen this as the only source of income that was unaffected by the turmoil. Government servants are guaranteed to receive their paychecks regardless of whether they show up at office or not. Who would not desire such an easy source of income. I salute the new CM for getting down to business from day one, and sending a clear message that non-punctuality and absenteeism will not be tolerated in the government workers anymore. 

Although this will send a clear message to the government employees to show up for work and they will be in office as required, a closer look is needed to get to the root of this lack of interest in work. In my opinion, some departments such as the departments of handicrafts, floriculture, animal husbandry to name just a few are useless and an unnecessary drain on our limited resources. Would it not be more sensible to reallocate the focus areas of these departments that would be more in tune with what the more pressing issues facing our governments are. I would like to emphasize that I am not advocating the dismissal of any government employees but what I am suggesting is re-assigning them different tasks that would make their jobs more useful to Kashmir. 

For instance, even though we have had the department of floriculture and horticulture for many decades in the valley, yet, how come we are not even on the map of the world producers of cut-flowers? or why is it that our fruit growers are still utilizing ancient techniques in growing fruits when the same acreage is capable of producing hundred times more fruit than what they are at this time. Clearly, these departments have been unable to do adequate research in bringing technology from world leaders in these fields and educate our farmers in these new agricultural technology. For instance, New Zealand apple growers are capable of producing 400 times more apples per acre than our Kashmiri fruit gowers. The main reason for this variance is that the New Zealand farmers were fortunate enough to be educated by "agriculture extension officers" as they are known there, in modernizing their production techniques.

Government officials should have the initiative to be innovative and have the vision to see what would make Kashmir more progressive in areas that their departments are concerned with. Instead of waiting for the CM to spoon feed them and pull them by their fingers. It is easy to follow orders but if they really want to earn their wages and excel in their jobs, then they have to start thinking out of the box and start thinking of ways of bringing in new technology from overseas and adapting it to be more suitable to Kashmir. That was the whole reason why the departments of horticulture, floriculture and animal husbandry were introduced to begin with. To modernize our agriculture. They have failed to deliver because I do not see Kashmir on the map of the world leaders in the production of frutis, or cut-flowers, or bulbs, or even sheep. Therefore it is time that we re-assign these departments other tasks that require critical attention at this time.

Some ideas where the several thousand employees of these department can be readjusted:

1. Anti Corruption Officers. (A short training of a few months to these employees on how to weed out and lay charges against corrupt officials)

2. Public Grievance Centers. (Set up one-room government grievance-centres in every mohalla, where anyone can come and register a complaint regarding everything from an exploded water pipe to complaints about harassment by security forces. The employees must receive rigorous training for a few months on customer service, and how to deal with irate public in the most professional manner. This will be sort of a one-stop outlet for the public to deal with the government. The employees will learn through training the most appropriate department and person to forward the complaint to. The person who registers the complaint receives a file number for their complaint and it would be nice to make our government efficient enough that the complainant is assured of some sort of an answer within a week or two. This will save the public from running around in the secretariat for days with a worn out file-folder wanting to meet with the minister to have their drain fixed)

3. Traffic Enforcement Officers (This is another area that we could use these employees. After receiving training for a few months, these employees could be reassigned the task of traffic law enforcement. Anything from speeding buses, overloaded buses and parking violations can be enforced by them)

Disparate views should not be a hinderance

Many of my eloquent, well versed, and knowledgeable critics have varied opinions on some of the issues that I discuss in my opinion articles. Most readers are able to read that feedback on my blog, but sadly they are unable to read the numerous emails that I receive continually which contain excellent counter arguments to the issues that I raise in my articles. Recently, I have been writing about the ways in which we all can leave aside our petty differences and give the current government headed by Omar Abdullah a helping hand to steer Kashmir toward the path of prosperity. Of all the great feedback that I receive, the one type of comment that stands out from the rest is where the writers feel that it has all along been India's policy to keep Kashmir underdeveloped( rightly so ) for their own strategical reasons, and that all efforts to change our crumbling economy and unemployment are futile. I will argue here that regardless of what have been the circumstances in the past, we owe it to the newly elected government to give them a chance for the sake of our beloved Kashmir.

The reason that the new government deserves a chance is that although we may have disparate political views, I hope our motives converge on the desire to see a Kashmir with low unemployment, world-class infrastructure, and a reasonably high standard of living. It is without doubt going to be next to impossible for the government to move forward if all the people of Kashmir do not share this dream. This includes people who voted against Omar, and those who chose to stay away from the polls. Omar Abdullah in his NDTV award function said that if he does'nt do a good job of keeping his promises with the people, there are outspoken critics who will tell him that he has done a lousy job and hasn’t he he repeatedly promised that lending him a helping hand to accomplish all these ambitious targets will not be a vote to shelf the Kashmir issue.

I write this knowing well that half the emails that I receive will accuse me of being an epitome of sycophancy. Accepting criticism is part of being involved in public life, and therefore I accept praises as well as brick-bats with open arms. At the same time, I promise them that no amount of negative feedback will scare me away from speaking what I believe is in the best interest of Kashmir.

Therefore, I strongly believe that it is in the best interest of Kashmir is to think how kashmir can be developed and not to heed to the conspiracy theories of Indian policy of keeping Kashmir perpetually in the dark ages and i am sure because of this , Kashmiris are destined to live a life of servitude under India. I am sure these sort of statements will not stop the progress of Omar's plans, but they do distract from the main topic at hand. Instead, we should be concentrating on brainstorming all possible alternate routes in reaching our goal of bringing Kashmir back to the 21st century, and then picking the most feasible way forward. I am aware the preceding sentence might have sounded very philosophical but what I meant is that I might suggest a path which involves bringing in experts from holland to teach us everything there is to know about starting greenhouses in Kashmir to jumpstart the greenhouse industry on a large scale, someone else might suggest something altogether different such as investing our time and effort in handing out loans to youth to start small scale units or any other viable idea. After debating the pros and cons of all these alternate routes that we could possibly take, we might agree on the best way forward. I suggest Koshur's blog is the best place for such conspiratorial discussions!

Many people who have worked with me and especially the people whom I represent as a councillor will agree that I am a very practical sort of person who likes to get things done. I have repeatedly emphasized that the only reason I am in politics is my desire to see Kashmir at par with other great cities in the world. What defeats my understanding is that why is it that these cities seem to have many of the similar problems that Kashmir faces and yet we seem to fare much worse than them. Granted, the security scenario is a big hinderance but I have yet to find an answer as to what the security scenario has to do with modernizing our drainage system. I will not bore you all with details on how the drainage system is the vascular system of any city, including Srinagar, upon which other important issues facing Kashmir depends such as cleanliness of the Dal Lake and general hygiene of all areas. Therefore, my point is that for all these years and with thousands of crores worth of assistance from the central government why is it that our main artery of the drainage has not been completed yet. Apart from the possible answer of rampant corruption, the only other answer to this is that the common people are not involved.

In my personal experience whilst dealing with project completion in my ward, I have felt that involving people who will be affected with any particular development project in their area makes a huge difference. I accomplished this by discussing the project details with them and seeking their input about the final decision. This way people realized they had ownership of the lane, park, street-lights etc that was being built in their mohallas. The reason is that people realize they are the ultimate owners of any public property and the government is just the caretaker. Similarly, the government should involve the general public by hearing their suggestions and concerns regarding any major development project in Kashmir. In this way, the public knows the 'grand plan' and keeps the contractors and engineers on their toes if the public witnesses any laxity or deviation from the plan. In contrast, many people in Srinagar are unaware of the major development projects planned for the city.

This final statement brings me back to the original point that we should all keep our differences aside and work together for the development of our beloved Kashmir. Everyone of us should be involved in the development of Kashmir. I respect all political views including those held by the separatists. But, prescribing to disparate views should not be a hinderance for all of us joining hands for the benefit of all Kashmiris. Developing our infrastructure, revitalizing our economy to help ease unemployment, and increasing everyone's standard of living - these should be the goals that we should all cooperate to achieve regardless of our political views.

Unsavory characters who give India a bad name

It is understandable that many Kashmiris cringe at the mere mention of fundamentalist Indian parties such as BJP whose vitriol doesnt help proponents of peace like myself in making the case for Kashmir's continued special relationship with India. Take for instance the recent statement of Mr. Rudy which appeared in today's Times of India.

No one can deny that the statement of Omar Abdullah calling on the British Foreign secretary Mr. Miliband to mediate between India and Pakistan in order to ease tensions between our two countries was intended as a sincere effort to forward peace, and yet fundamentalists such as Mr Rudy will even pick apart such noble efforts and spare no effort to escalate the bellicose statements being exchanged between the two countries lately. It is this kind of belligerence that has prevented India and Pakistan from building a strong friendship for all these years - simply because mediators of peace like Omar are quickly silenced by fundamentalists such as Mr Rudy.

However, maybe Mr Rudy is exacting his revenge for the drubbing he received from Omar in interviews during Amarnath protests, but he should act like a man and move on. He should keep the interests of the Nation before his personal vendetta. India and Pakistan will both benefit if there is a lasting peace between our two brotherly countries. Asking for outside help in resolving our conflict is a mature and reasonable thing to do - simply because we have been unable to resolve our differences on our own for the past 60 years. If we keep holding on to our pride, and shun outside efforts to mediate between us, then we will only keep sulking in our self made quagmire, and be suffering for another 60 years of unnecessary animosity and enmity with our neighbouring country with which we share a millenia of civilization and culture. 

Blueprint for dealing with unemployment in Kashmir

Some wise man once observed that if you give a poor man some bread, you feed him for one day. But if you teach the poor man how to grow food, you feed a whole generation. I could be paraphrasing this saying incorrectly but all I want to accomplish is convey the message. Same is true in dealing with the issue of unemployment in Kashmir. Generating more government jobs is not the solution. What we need is some serious aid from other parts of the world in training our youth in areas such as technical trades, intensive agriculture, electronics and computers, and modern construction techniques.

The purpose of education should not be to simply churn out graduates with worthless degrees who contribute very little to society, and whose only goal in life is to procure a civil service job. I personally know hundreds if not thousands of youth with multiple PHd's and yet they are unemployed, greying in the hopes of getting a foothold into the public service. It is not their fault that today's society has very little to offer them in terms of employment or means of earning a living for all their hard work and dedication in earning their degrees. It is the fault of our education system for not having the vision to foresee that the ultimate goal of any education should be to secure the future of the student economically and not to add uncertainty. Sadly, today's education system has failed in this regard.

The most stark difference in the education system of other countries and our Indian system of education is that our focus here is on generating more degree holders without consideration for the interests and capabilities of the students. The students trust the education system and work endless hours to finally pass the grueling exams and after three or four years of treading the tortuous path of education, they finally make it only to be added to the sad statistics of unemployed youth in Kashmir. It is for no fault of theirs. This is the responsibility of the government to devise strategies for the best possible utilization of the state's manpower, and I am certain things will change in this direction in the near future.

The current polytechnic colleges in Kashmir should be our blueprint to work with. My mother is one of the instructors in the women's polytechnic therefore I can talk about this with authority. These polytechnics are a phenomenal success and without a doubt the students who pass from these colleges are in a much better state in terms of being self-employed or being employed in some private firms. They fare much better than my friends holding multiple degrees in arts, history, or physics from degree colleges. Why this discrepancy? because these polytechnic colleges took the initiative of imparting education that helps meet the student's immediate needs in terms of being employable right after completing their courses. Sadly, there is a cap on how many students these polytechnic colleges can enroll and therefore many students are left out.

I suggest that the government put all resources in action and open up polytechnic colleges so that all students, whether old or young are able to enroll in them to seek valuable applied knowledge. By 'applied knowledge' I mean courses that will meet their immediate needs, courses such as "automobile repairing" "welding" "tailoring" "computer network" "computer repair and maintenance" "cellular repairing" "horticulture" "crop disease diagnosis" "carpentry" "masonry" and the list goes on. We all are aware of that these courses are offered in all community colleges in other countries and has helped ease the unemployment numbers in these countries. 

We also know that apart from the two polytechnic colleges in Kashmir, there are no other institutions where students can learn about these applied skills without being charged an arm and a leg for learning these courses. For instance, a student is charged ten thousand rupees at a private computer centre just for learning basic computer skills. This scares away many students from seeking applied skills and thus the cycle of dearth of skilled manpower continues. 

If unconventional courses such as "intensive agriculture" or "green house production" are taught in Kashmir on a regular basis with the help of aid from overseas leaders in this field such as experts from Holland, it could jump start an altogether unique industry in Kashmir. Remember it doesn't necessarily take an million dollar investment to start an industry. Kashmiris have the skill and the diligence to learn and innovate. All we need is a jumpstart.

Corruption, e-governance and return of youth from AJK

I would like to ask critics of Omar Abdullah whether they could think of any other CM who would have the insight to figure out that in order to curb the menace of corruption, the best solution is to take the means of petty officials fleecing the public for the last rupee, and introduce e-governance. The same is the case with the return of youth from AJK. Although many have promised to guarantee the safe return of our youth who crossed over to AJK, I have full confidence in Omar that he will see through this.

e-governance not only seals the coffin of corrruption by petty officials, it buries it deep in six feet of soil. When the study that came out last year which gave Kashmir the distinction of being second only to Bihar in the prevalence of corrutpion, most Kashmiris were in shock and could not believe how our society has deteriorated to the extent of being at par with Bihar. 

From what I understand, e-governance computerizes all government dealings with the public. All land records, state-subject certificates, birth and death records, and personal identification records will be computerized. There will be no "chai" that petty officials could demand in preparing your document. Although corruption is more prevalent and e-governance will only target the tip of the iceberg, atleast once e-governance is accomplished, hopefully that will have a cascading effect and the vice of corruption will be banished from Kashmir for ever.

Why Omar Abdullah needs our support

At no time in the history of Kashmir is it important that we all cooperate and support our Chief Minister. Supporting Omar Abdullah is important because I have worked closely with him and know that he has the energy and genuine passion for improving the lives of all Kashmiris and rescuing Kashmir out of the rut of corruption, unemployment and lawlessness. Many readers and critics will not even have finished reading my first sentence and started to mumble to themselves that I am the biggest psychophant to ever walk the face of the earth. These people are entitled to their opinion, but so am I, therefore I would like to lay down my views on why it is imperative that we all set our differences aside and respect the verdict of the people of Kashmir and give Omar a hand in steering Kashmir toward the path of development and prosperity.

With Omar at the helm, we have a chance to seek the maximum benefit out of our relationship with India. He has excellent rapport with all the powers that be in the central government. I can think of no other Kashmiri leader, past or present, who had the combination of education, ability, charisma, and communication skills as Omar does. Kashmir and Kashmiris need a united voice. No general can fight his battles alone. If all Kashmiris give Omar a chance I do not see why we can together save Kashmir from falling deeper into the precipice of misery that we have been in for the past 20 years.

Where there is no vision people suffer

I would like to remove some of the haze that has been covering my blog for some time now. Although It's been great to see people visiting my blog and debating, I would have really appreciated had the debate not resorted to personal attacks and name calling. It just emphasizes the fact that the more writers pour out their thoughts for all to read and judge, the more debate there is and that way people can decide for themselves. Otherwise, in the abscence of counter arguments and where there is a vacuum of opposing voices, people tend to be easily swayed away with a stroke of a pen (See comments ….). I am thankful to my fellow blogger Koshur who used some good words for me.

Right now every one is concerned or rather looks concerned about the Chief Minister, they call him an Indian stooge, and if that’s not enough they say his chair was already decided even before elections were held. 

It reminds me of one of the comments by some one who said in my earlier post that, "Tanvir You have written a couple of hundred thousand people participated in the anti- India protests. What a hypocrate you are. You must be a staunch Pro- Indian stooge. You are trying to keep your bosses in a good humour. Whole world knows that people came out in millions not in thousands”.  Even if it were a million odd people and even if I go by his theory why cant any one convince me that out of 10 million population of Kashmir valley 60 % voted in the recent election, then how can it be farcical and how can the hurriyat be the real representatives of Kashmiris. Haven’t the separatist lost the battle or may be people like koshur (http://kashmir-truth-be-told.blogspot.com), Kashmir crisis, Kashmir centre are still hoping that they can ruin Kashmir a little more . I don’t know but may be they need a yanky yelling at them “Hey dude people voted and boycott guys lost, so just chill”.

I do not intend to be one sided but I see a prosperous Kashmir if we remain a fully autonomous state with India. Granted there have been excesses committed by certain forces within India and Kashmiris have been suffering gravely for the past many decades. The other alternatives to autonomy are too laden with risk to gamble our future for. We have a special place and we deserve to be autonomous. There are forces within India who wish to undermine our special status but there are also many reasonable and moderate voices who genuinely understand the Kashmir issues better. 

Hypocrisy

I had been awfully busy with both my professional as well as my personal life and that’s precisely the reason for not writing a piece for long time now…

I was reading a blog written by one of our fellow bloggers “Koshur” (http://kashmir-truth-be-told.blogspot.com), according to him we should observe 5th January as a Self determination day. See what my friend had to write … 

“Dear Fellow Kashmiris,
Please join your fellow countrymen in observing January 5th 2009 as Self-Determination Day. We can show our solidarity with the freedom movement by wearing black ribbons or black scarves on our wrists, or vehicle-antennas.
No farcical elections can substitute our right to self-determination. That is real democracy.”

After going through his earlier posts I came to the conclusion that he is more concerned about what Omar Ab. wears, eats, stays, blogs...Etc etc then helping the kashmiri cause. Every write up contains some element of personal onslaught. 

I will not drag this topic for I am constrained by my need for conciseness, but just to make a point here, few months back when a couple of hundred thousand people came on roads for the Amarnath issue,the whole media went into frenzy calling it a referendum, but in the recent held election people participation was more then 60%, and yet we declare it as a farcical election, isn’t this HYPOCRISY 

You may differ on various subjects and may be not agree with Omar as a person but for all of us who are concerned for peace and triumph of youth, reason and justice must be keenly aware how important it is for the nation to see Omar Abdullah as the Chief Minister.