Jammu & Kashmir ('Home' page)
This article has been sourced from an authoritative, official readers who wish to update or add further details can do so on a ‘Part II’ of this article. |
Contents |
The source of this article
INDIA 2012
A REFERENCE ANNUAL
Compiled by
RESEARCH, REFERENCE AND TRAINING DIVISION
PUBLICATIONS DIVISION
MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
Jammu and Kashmir
Area : *2,22,236 sq km (* includes 78,114 sq km under illegal occupation of Pakistan, 5,180 sq km illegally handed over by Pakistan to China and 37,555 sq km under illegal occupation of China. The population figures excludes population of areas under unlawful occupation of Pakistan and China where census could not be taken.)
Population : 1,01,43,700 (2001 Census)
1,25,48,926(2011 Census)
Capital : Srinagar (Summer); Jammu (Winter)
Principal Languages : Urdu, Dogri, Kashmiri, Pahari, Punjabi, Ladakhi, Balti, Gojri and Dadri
HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY
According to the most popular legend that is also recorded in Rajtarangani and Nilmat Purana, two most authoritative books, Kashmir was once a large lake and it was Kashyap Rishi who drained off the water, making it a beautiful abode. But geologists have their own theory, which says that geographical changes made way for the outflow of water by subsidence of the mountain at Khadianayar, Baramulla and thus emerged the Valley of Kashmir, the paradise on earth. Ashoka introduced Buddhism to Kashmir in the 3rd century B.C. which was later strengthened by Kanishka. Huns got the control of the valley in the early 6th century.
The Valley regained freedom in 530 AD but soon came under the rule of the Ujjain empire. After decline of the Vikramaditya dynasty, the valley had its own rulers. There was a synthesis of Hindu and Buddhist cultures. Lalitaditya (697-738 AD) extended his rule up to Bengal in the east, Konkan in the south, Turkistan in the north-west and Tibet in the north-east. Considered as the most famous Hindu ruler, he was known for constructing beautiful buildings. Islam came to Kashmir during 13th and 14th centuries AD. Zain-ul-Abedin (1420-70) was the most famous Muslim ruler, who came to Kashmir when the Hindu king Sinha Dev fled before the Tatar invasion. Later Chaks overran Haider Shah son of Zain-ul-Abedin. They continued to rule till 1586 when Akbar conquered Kashmir. In 1752, Kashmir passed on from the feeble control of the Mughal emperor of the time, to Ahmed Shah Abdali of Afghanistan. The Valley was ruled by the Pathans for 67 years.
Name of Jammu figures in the Mahabharata. Recent finds of Harappan remains and artefact of Mauryan, Kushan and Gupta periods at Akhnoor have added new dimensions to its ancient character. The land of Jammu was divided into 22 hill principalities. Raja Maldev, one of the Dogra rulers, conquered many territories to consolidate his kingdom. Raja Ranjit Dev ruled over Jammu from 1733 to 1782. His successors were weak and thus Maharaja Ranjit Singh annexed the territory to Punjab. He later handed over Jammu to Raja Gulab Singh, a scion of the old Dogra ruling family, who had grown powerful among Ranjit Singh’s governors and had annexed almost the whole Jammu region. The State was governed by Dogra rulers till 1947 when Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession in favour of the Indian Union on 26 October 1947.
Roads : The State is connected to the rest of the country through just one highway (NH 1A), 400 km stretch (approx.) maintained by Border Roads Organization (BRO) of India. As Railway network of the State is in infancy stage, this has rendered the State totally dependent on road connectivity which provides links to the remote areas of the State. The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (NH1A) is considered to be the most expensive road for maintenance in the world. At the end of March 2010 road length maintained by all the departments in the State was 41873 km, of which 25578 kms were surfaced and remaining 16,295 km un-surfaced. The road density (road length per 100 sq. km of area) of the State thus works out to be 41.30 km against the National Average of 104.6 km. With this road density, J&K is among the States with lowest road density in the country, thus hampering opening up of the economy and adversely affecting delivery of public services to the people. Moreover, there are huge inter-district variations in the rural road density.
Railways: Because of the difficult terrain Railway network has not developed as in other parts of the country. At present Jammu is the Rail head of the State and the line has been extended upto District Udhampur only (53 kms). The work on Udhampur-Qazigund rail line is under progress and intra rail link between Quzigund to Baramulla is complete. However, the railway link of 119 km from Baramulla to Qazigund has been thrown open and 173 km railway line is under construction.
Aviation: There are three major airports in the state providing aerial transport among three regions of the State and the country. Out of the three Srinagar airport has been upgraded as international airport named as Sheikh-ul-Alam Airport, while the facilities at Jammu and Leh airports are also being upgraded. One more airport at Kargil headquarters is connected by Dakota service.
Agriculture :
Agriculture constitutes an important sector of the state economy as around 70% of the population of J&K derive greater part of their income directly or indirectly from this sector. Economy of J&K continues to be predominantly agrarian as 49% of the total working force with 42% as cultivators and 7% as agriculture labourers depend directly on agriculture for their livelihood. Apart from direct impact of agriculture growth on generation of rural employment and incomes, its significant secondary linkages with development of rural non-farm sectors are more crucial.
Trade in agricultural outputs and inputs and services required by it and processing of its products open up additional and more significant avenues for labour absorption. Agriculture in the state besides has a significant contribution in the export of rare agriculture produce like saffron, honey and basmati and remains an important source of raw material demanded by many industries. Looking at the contribution of agriculture and allied sectors to the state economy it has been estimated that 23% of GSDP (2009-10) accrue from it. The individual share of agriculture has been estimated in the range of 8-9% for 2009-10 (advance estimates).
Irrigation :
Irrigation is an essential input of agriculture and is practised in all parts of the world where rainfall does not provide enough ground moisture. In areas of irregular rainfall, irrigation is used during dry spells to ensure harvests and to increase crop yields. A major constraint to the development of agriculture in J&K is the fact that only 50% of the ultimate irrigation potential of the state has been harnessed. The ultimate irrigation potential in J&K has been assessed at 1358 thousand hectare, which includes 250 thousand hectare to be developed through major and medium irrigation and 1108 thousand hectare through minor irrigation. Horticulture : Jammu & Kashmir is well known for its horticulture produce both in India and abroad. The state offers good scope for cultivation of all types of horticulture crops covering a variety of temperate fruits like apple, pear, peach, plum, apricot, almonds, cherry and sub-tropical fruits like mango, guava, citrus, litchi etc. Apart from this, well-known spices like saffron and zeera are cultivated in some parts of the state. Horticulture is emerging as a fast growing sector in the state. Its importance is visualised by its contribution to the state's economy which is estimated to be 7-8%. Almost 45% economic returns in agriculture sector is accounted for by horticulture produce. 5 lakh families comprising of 30 lakh people are involved in horticulture trade.
Floriculture :
Floriculture sector has been identified as the most focussed segment of horticulture. There is much more income to farmers from flower cultivation due to growing demand for flowers in domestic and foreign markets. To promote this segment floriculture nurseries have been developed where ornamental and medicinal plants are produced, besides the seed multiplication programmes of flower seeds. Floriculture department products more than 5-6 lakh seedlings of different kinds of flowers/ornamental plants not only to meet its own requirements but also sells the seedlings to the flower lovers against cash payment and earns revenue of about 8 lakh on an average, per annum on this account.
Forests :
The state has 20230 sq km under forest area constituting about 19.95% of total geographical area of 101387 sq km on this side of actual line of control. Out of this, area under reserved forest is 2551 sq km which accounts for 12.61% of total forest area, protected forest forms 87.21% with an area of 17643 sq km and the remaining 36 sq km (0.18%) are unclassified. Looking at division -wise distribution of forest cover 8128 sq km are in Kashmir valley, 12066 sq km in Jammu division and 36 sq km in Ladakh region constituting 50.97%, 45.89% and 0.06% respectively of the geographical area. Per capita forest area accounts for 0.17 hectare as compared to 0.07 hectare at the national level.
Species-wise forest area reveals 90.68% under coniferous with 5.32% Deodar, 9.02% Chir, 9.73% Kail, 16.81% Fir and 49.80% others. 9.32% forest cover is claimed by non-coniferous non-commercial reserves.
Health
In 2012 Jammu and Kashmir was ranked no.1 out of the 25 states and 10 union territories of India in the field of Health. Source: [1]
Kashmir boasts of a range of health indicators that are much better than the all-India average. (All figures are for 2011-12)
Infant Mortality Rate of 43 per 1,000 is lower than the all-India figure of 47.
Total Fertility Rate, a reflection of survival of children, stands at 2.1, again lower (and hence better) than the all-India figure of 2.6.
The state also has a more evenly balanced Child Sex Ratio (0-6 years) at 941, as against the national average of 933.
The state ranks 9 among all Indian states in terms of the percentage of children born through institutional delivery. Source: [2]
In early 2012, the state’s health department enlisted the state's remote sensing agency to map the state's health infrastructure, using software provided by World Health Organisation (WHO). This helped the state to employ budgetary resources in a more planned way.
Though only 13 of the state's 22 districts have as yet been mapped, available information has already made it possible for the department to send doctors, paramedics and medical supplies to locations demarcated "inaccessible", "very difficult" and "difficult".
250 primary health centres did not have a doctor for more than a decade, since around 2001. 230 of them have regular doctors in places like Leh, Kupwara, Kargil, Kistwar, Ramban, Poonch, Riasi and Doda.
Cash incentives, too, have helped achieve seemingly impossible targets. Doctors volunteering to serve in remote villages and towns are now eligible for hardship allowances, between Rs.10,000 and Rs.20,000, in addition to their regular salaries.
Jammu and Kashmir has a robust MCTs (mother and child tracking system) where each and every case can be monitored directly from the state headquarters, and even cellphones.
Health workers no longer have to file paper reports. They simply upload photos of their visit to villages via cellphones to the state’s Facebook page. Government Medical College Hospital
SKIMS
Ahmed Hospital
Bone & joint Hospital
SMHS[
Industry :
In order to achieve a self sustaining economy with continued higher levels of investment, rapid rate of increase on income and employment there is no option but to go for industrialisation.
To usher in new era of industrialization comprehensive industrial policy came into being in 2004 to be lasted till 2015 under which planned incentives are being taken to raise J&K which is predominantly known as consumer State for most of its requirements to a level of self sufficiency and in the near future to a producer State.
The incentives provided in the policy are ahead of other States of the country. The incentives under the State Industrial Policy are available to the industrial units subject to fulfillment of the conditions of 90% local employment. During the year 2009-10 incentives of different kinds amounting to Rs. 11.35 crore have been provided to 2718 Industrial units of the state.
Tourism :
Jammu & Kashmir is an important Tourist destination and has been a place of attraction for tourist since centuries. The lush green forests, sweet springs, perennial rivers, picturesque alpine scenery and pleasant climate of Kashmir valley— the paradise on earth has remained an internationally acclaimed tourist destination, whereas Jammu region—the land of temples is attracting a large number of pilgrim tourists and the important destination has been the shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine. Ladakh region-the moon land has been a much sought-after destination especially for the foreign Tourists and is famous for adventure tourism.
Tourist inflow to J&K has continuously been increasing steadily from 69,12,000 in 2004 to 99,69,515 in 2010 (Nov. 2010), which indicates an increase of 37.39%.
The percentage increase in respect of the pilgrim visitors to Amarnath Ji has been to the extent of 24.51%, during the period 2004-2008, Mata Vaishno Devi JI by 34.78%, domestic tourists by over 103% and foreign tourist by 11.58% during the period 2004-2009. During 2010 as on ending Nov. 2010, 7.23 lakh tourist visited J&K. In the perspective of overall tourist inflow to all the three regions of the state the percentage has increased during the years 1988 to 2010 by 234.91%.
Power :
The estimated hydro power potential of the State is 20,000 Megawatts (MWs), of which 16480 MWs have been identified. Out of the identified potential, only, 2318.70 MWs or 14 per cent have been exploited so far, consisting of 758.70 MWs in State Sector from 20 power projects and 1560 MWs from three power projects under Central Sector i.e. 690 MWs (Salal Hydro Electric Project) and 480 MWs (Uri-I Hydro Electric Project) and Dulhasti 390 MWs. The Baglihar Hydro Electricity Project, with a capacity of 450 MWs was commissioned during 2008-09.
The base load requirement of the State is about 716 MWs and peak demand is currently pegged at about 2120 MWs. The sixteenth All India Power Survey has projected an increase in power demand of Jammu and Kashmir from 1706 MWs i.e. 9640 MUs during 2004-05 to 2120 MWs i.e. 14750 MUs during 2008-09. By 2010-11, the demand is expected to touch 2441 MWs i.e. 14321 MUs and 4000 MWs i.e. 19500 MUs by 2002-21.
During 2007-08, 879.35 MUs energy was generated of the value of Rs. 81.42 crore and 1658.59 MUs power was generated, valued at Rs. 81.42 crore and 1658.59 MUs power was generated, valued at Rs. 295.47 crore during 2008-09. The total availability of power from all the sources is just around 9147 MUs, and the State is under stress to purchase power from other sources. To meet the restricted requirement of 10238 MUs in the current year, the State may require purchasing additional 1091 MUs through U.I. and short term purchases besides banking arrangements with Punjab, Haryana and Chattisgarh. During the year 2008-09 an amount of Rs. 628.00 crore was realised against the total target of Rs. 1105.00 crore, thereby constituting 56.83 per cent of the targeted revenue realisation in the power sector. The revenue realisation during 2008-09 has registered an increase of Rs. 36.03 crores thereby registering a growth of 6.09 per cent of the previous year (2007-08).
GOVERNMENT
Governor : Shri N.N. Vohra
Chief Secretary : Shri Madav Lal, (IAS)/ Sh Iqbal Khandey
Chief Minister : Shri Omar Abdullah
Jurisdiction of : Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh High Court
AREA, POPULATION AND HEADQUARTERS OF DISTRICTS
S.No. District Geographical Population * No. of No of
Area (2001 census) Tehsils Blocks
1. Anantnag 2,917 7.83 6 7
2. Badgam 1,371 6.29 3 5
3. Bandipora 398 3.16 3 5
4. Baramulla 4,190 8.53 7 12
5. Doda 2,985 2.86 4 8
6. Ganderbai 1,045 2.12 4 4
7. Jammu 2336 13.57 4 8
8. Kargil 14,036 1.19 3 9
9. Kathua 1,067 5.11 5 8
10. Kishtwar 7,737 1.91 4 8
11. Kulgam 1,067 3.89 3 5
12. Kupwara 2,379 6.50 3 11
13. Leh 82,665 1.17 3 9
14. Poonch 1,674 3.73 4 6
15. Pulwama 1,086 4.41 4 4+(Part of block Keller)
16. Rajouri 2,630 4.83 7 8
17. Ramban 1346 0.22 2 4
18. Reasi 1700 2.48 2 4
19. Samba 910 2.70 1 4
20. Shopian 612 2.11 1 1+(Part of block Keller)
21. Srinagar 1183 9.89 2 1
22. Udhampur 2473 4.96 4 7
Total 222236* 101.43 82 142
Note : The boundaries of newly carved out districts and the districts from which they have been carved have not been finalised yet by the concerned agencies. So the discrepancies could exist in the geographical area figured above.
@ and * Includes area illegally held by Pakistan & China
