Kashmir is known as heaven on earth, but practically it has all along been a desert, a place torn apart by recurring agitation and leadership crises.

The now-downgraded Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir continues to face numerous unresolved issues, and for many of its people, there can be no sight of it ending. After a good gap, elections were finally held last year. People voted in large numbers, brimming with hope that long-standing issues of unemployment, bad roads, inadequate healthcare, and poor education would finally get resolved. National Conference won a decisive mandate in the Valley and people got ready to see meaningful change. One year on, little has changed on the ground, and the suffering of the people remains mostly unmitigated. The public continue to show little interest in approaching the Civil Secretariat either in Srinagar or Jammu, even after the return of an elected government. Hope has been replaced by disappointment. Most people are of the belief that nothing will change under the current regime.

A blame game now overshadows governance. The ruling party blames limitations imposed by the Lieutenant Governor for the lack of progress, while the latter has gone on record to........

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