As the financial stress triggered by two successive covid lockdowns in last two years has started easing with the steady resumption of business operation in Jammu & Kashmir like several states and union territories of the country , it is an appropriate time to take stock of the priority sectors of the economy including health and education infrastructure in Jammu & Kashmir Given the fact that annual budgets of the previous popular governments of erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir did not accord as much priority to nutrition, health, and education as they deserved and in the post covid scenario the heath, nutrition and education have become priority sectors not only in India but across the world and as such these sectors have to be recognized as priority sectors in Jammu & Kashmir as well. Health related expenditures would hopefully get a major push in the coming years in Jammu & Kashmir like other states and union territories of the country but to increase the standards of health and education facilities to middle class and people living below the poverty line the government’s health and education facilities of rural areas deserve major chunk of health and education expenditures in the annual budgets in coming years in Jammu & Kashmir. Unfortunately the health and education facilities for middle-class and the people living below the poverty line have not been upgraded even in the rural areas the way they should have been upgraded in these areas. So obviously the increasing gaps in the health and education related expenditures for the middle class and people living below the poverty lines have to be reduced through rationalisation in the annual health and education related expenditures in Jammu & Kashmir. Keeping in view the new structural , institutional and administrative changes in the planning and development procedures it is now for the newly constituted district development councils (DDCs) to raise demands for major hike in health and education related expenditures as they have now a central role in the planning and development processes in the districts of their own jurisdiction in Jammu & Kashmir.
While the district development councils in view of structural and institutional changes in the district planning and development practices and procedures have to take central role in the planning and implementation of the entire process of infrastructural upgradation in the health and education sectors, the Government itself has to act as regulator to reduce the increasing gapes in the health and education facilities between the urbanites and ruralities and also between the rich and the poor across Jammu & Kashmir.
With most of the newly constituted district development councils raising demands for economic and administrative reforms for improving the standards of basic facilities for the deprived classes of the society the reforms have not to be reduced just to papers but they have to implemented through a process of social compact between the government and the people so that basic health and educational facilities reach the doorsteps of people in the remotest of the remote areas in the post covid scenario in Jammu & Kashmir. While the district development councils in view of structural and institutional changes in the district planning and development practices and procedures have to take central role in the planning and implementation of the entire process of infrastructural upgradation in the health and education sectors, the Government itself has to act as regulator to reduce the increasing gapes in the health and education facilities between the urbanites and ruralities and also between the rich and the poor across Jammu & Kashmir.
