Whatever the contours of modern day economy, it is always productive to look into the real strengths of economy in local context. The efficient way of managing economy in any region is to work on strengths, and then employ the modern means to make it even more efficient. The case in point is Kashmir. There are some known sectors that involve most of our people in economic engagement. At the level of optics, tourism might be considered as the dominant contributor to economy, but that is not the case. True, in a place like Kashmir tourism has been a major source of earning for people and it has a potential of growing many times over. But the areas that can revolutionise Kashmir’s economy are agriculture and traditional crafts.

In the city of Srinagar we have a considerable population that depends on handicrafts for their living. If the same skills are taken to professional levels and modern technology is integrated into the businesses that deal with arts and crafts, we can have our youth earning decently at an early age. Not just that, we can have businesses built that can compete at global level, and create good number of jobs.

What the government needs to do it must do, but at the societal level there needs a deliberate thinking to revive crafts and put an element of attraction and productivity to it. Those who take it up as their economic choice should not only earn well, but also feel elevated in terms of societal estimation.

Now the the core area – agriculture. If our agriculture and the businesses practices associated with this area are professionalised, people will forget complaining about job scarcity. Though government has initiated many schemes in this area the society at large is yet to respond the way it should. Our educated youth, if they gain the right skill set, at right time, can do wonders in this filed. Just a comparative study of the developed world with ours would tell them that agricultural and allied sectors can bring immense prosperity.

© Greater Kashmir