No. rose from 18% in 1995; no basic facilities in 2,763 areas Villages
Dinesh Manhotra
The erstwhile state of J&K is the only place in the country where the number of “backward” villages is increasing with each passing year despite successive governments at the Centre, from time to time, having pumped huge funds to develop infrastructure.
In 1995, when reservation for the residents of backward areas was announced, only 18 per cent of the total villages of J&K were notified as “backward” but in 2019, the number rose to over 42 per cent.
As per the official data, besides the districts of Kargil and Leh of the newly created UT of Ladakh, of the total 6,553 villages, 2,763 of J&K have been notified as “backward” as these areas lack basic infrastructure like roads, water and electricity, etc.
“This is nothing but a mockery of the system that the number of notified backward villages is increasing with every passing year in this part of the country,” opined social activist Prof KD Verma, adding, “The ruling elites of J&K have brazenly abused the backwardness as a tool by the politicians to deprive the deserving people of the benefits of reservation.”
Interestingly, the 2011 Censushad showed that in Kashmir division, Bandipora, Kupwara and Budgam were the poorest districts while it waere Ramban, Kishtwar, Poonch and Reasi in the Jammu region. However, a majority of the notified “backward” villages are located in the constituencies of influential politicians of J&K.
Notably, before the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of J&K into two UTs, there were around 500 more representations before the commission for the notification of their villages as “backward”.
The criteria
The govt declares a village as “backward” on the recommendations of the J&K State Commission for Backward Classes, which first assesses the development scenario of the area on the basis of 52 indicators, including its social and educational backwardness.(TNS)
