Tasneem Kabir
With changing times come changing economic paradigms, and the 20th Century has been a major push in hybrid economic activities. What hybrid economic activities essentially entail is the ability to bring two services into one composite whole, so the benefits/profits may be multiplied manifold. Kashmir has tremendous economic potential, and all the more so when we look at the hybrid economic activities it is conducive to.
Foremost, Kashmir is very hospitable (simply by virtue of its serene geography as well as the well-educated populace) to medical tourism. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines medical tourism as “tourism associated with travel to health spas or resort destinations, where the primary purpose is to improve travellers’ physical well-being through a process comprising physical exercises and therapy, dietary control, and medical services relevant to health maintenance,” while Bookman & Bookman defines it as travelling to another destination with the objective of one’s health improvement, thereby making it an economic activity in services representing two areas – medicine & tourism.
Spring is almost here, as so is Kashmir’s busy tourist season. As people arrive in thousands to watch multi-coloured tulips blooms, Shikaras flutter the placid waters of the Dal and hosts rhythmically beating meat to prepare elaborate Wazwan recipes, wouldn’t it be splendid if the very same people came in to seek medical assistance? It would be the best of both worlds, where by sitting right in the lap of the Himalayas and with access to great medical facilities, the visitors would be healing both their minds and their bodies. Now, that is a vision we would all like to behold – Kashmir as the mental and corporeal heaven.
When it comes to logistics, the tourism aspect of medical tourism is well taken care of already, as it is in itself a thriving industry. What requires acute attention, however, is the elevation of the quality of health services, so private resort owners and tourism-related private entities may see in aligning with medicine a lucrative prospect. In that regard, we have a long way to go. Health care sector across of the Union Territory is largely being managed by government and it lacks private participation to share the responsibility and afford quality health care at comparable cost to needy patients either through Private Health Insurances or recently introduced six Health Insurance schemes launched by Government of India. This awareness became all the more pronounced during the pandemic, and it is an urgent appeal to the government to venture into PPP models (public-private partnerships) so delivery of health care may reach a stage where people from outside of the state are compelled to visit to enjoy the services on offer.
Additionally, a dedicated drive to study the utilization of medical professionals (particularly recently graduated doctors and para-medical staff from government medical colleges) for positioning them in rural areas for a compulsory tenure to qualify appearing in the entrance test for further study may ease out the situation and in turn provide field experience to these young doctors before they latch on to specialization and super specialization studies in government medical colleges. This will act in the manner of a single arrow that hits two targets. First, the rural populace will get access to medical facilities that they have been hitherto denied due to a lack of political will. Second, the rural interiors of the state will see economic prosperity usher in as various ancillary services will start springing up to accommodate the tourists that visit these parts in the lookout for medical treatments.
In this manner, medical tourism would come to the rescue of both rural unemployment as well as the lack of recognition of the beauty of our state as preserved best in the pastoral spaces.
Moving on to the next hybrid economic activity Kashmir can foster – education. Education may seem simple and far from hybrid, but what one must understand is that a robust education system reaps two economic benefits – producing an educated, gainfully employable workface that graduates from colleges and universities, as well as the ability to make gains via the conglomerate of out-of-station or even international students that attend our institutions. Thus, the scenario today is one wherein even education is a hybrid economic activity with twin benefits.
Now, we shall attempt to see what the status and scope of such a paradigm is in the Kashmir Valley.
In the coming days, Jammu and Kashmir will be sure to reflect a positive impact of various government schemes on its education system. Till now, the state has been following the 10+2+3 pattern like other parts of the country. However, as per the new education policy, the pattern will shift to 5+3+3+4. The same will be implemented soon by the state as well as central government. The state is home to 12 universities including two central and two deemed to be universities and has one IIT, NIT, NIFT, IIMC, and IIM and more than 20 B.Ed colleges. As per the NIRF Ranking released in 2020, two of the universities of Jammu and Kashmir come under top 100 universities of India. These are – University of Kashmir (ranked at #48) and University of Jammu (ranked at #52). Additionally, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University is among the top engineering colleges with rank 78 according to the NIRF ranking. The myriad science, Arts, and Commerce colleges of Jammu and Kashmir also offer degree courses to the students. The government is also planning to open 352 schools to provide vocational education for filling the gap between educated and employable and to reduce the dropout rate at secondary level benefitting 23000 students. For the school and Higher Education Sector, an allocation of Rs.2,392 crore has been made for the year 2020-21 which is 1,000 crore more than the previous years’ budget allocation.
Statistics and facts make it amply clear that we are on the right track when it comes to creating an educational environment that will produce employable and skilled individuals.
However, what we are lacking is an active marketing of these tremendous opportunities to those outside the state, who only see J&K as a destination for tourism and pilgrimage. What the government must actively indulge in is, via the means of audio-visual as well as print messages, a dissemination of information about the varied and vibrant educational prospects in Jammu and Kashmir. That would bring much needed revenue to the institutions of education, as well as facilitate an environment of academics and intelligentsia wherein ideas and comprehensions flow freely and turn the Union Territory into a storehouse of skill and wisdom.
With the medical tourism and education sectors in order, we are sure to reap a dividend that is both lucrative and sustainable in the long run.
