As per the government version, after the dilution of Article 370 and bifurcation of erstwhile J&K State into Ladakh and J&K UTs, the prospects of the region have touched new heights as all the bottlenecks snarling the progress have been eliminated in one go on August 5, 2019. As Article 370 was projected as a big hurdle in the development of J&K, the government now should come up with plans for the region to enable it as a healthy competitor of its counterparts in other states especially in Southern parts which have achieved a lot in the technology sector.
It is unfortunate that after over four years of bidding adieu to contentious Article 370, there is no clear roadmap in possession of those helming the affairs because clamour of development, progress and prosperity can do nothing until the government works on chalking out further course of action.
In today's cut throat competition in technology world, government has nothing in offing for the youths of J&K, who had been excelling in the field outside the region, in southern region of the country, places like UP, Chandigarh and even Gujarat besides in foreign lands but as far as J&K is concerned, what is in offing at the most is mobile repairing, and the very basic jobs with regard to internet connectivity and DTH services, which really shows the sad state of affairs and bankruptcy of mind of those planning for generation next in the UT.
In this context, the news coming from Tamil Nadu explains how other states were putting efforts to excel in technology and related fields because the government out there is soon coming up with an action plan for the development of tech cities in the State, a proposal that was announced earlier this year.
At present, the technology industry in India has clustered around seven major cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune. As per the Nasscom-Deloitte report titled “Emerging technology hubs of India”, India's tech industry is decentralising from the seven major hubs, including metropolitan hubs, to 26 cities, with representation from tier-2 and tier-3 towns like Chandigarh, Nagpur and Kanpur.
Reportedly, the tech cities will be developed through public-private partnership models. There is a dire need for the J&K administration and the Centre to take a cue from such endeavors undertaken by other states in order to shape the future of J&K. This is crucial to halt the brain drain, which is currently at its peak in J&K, and to provide international-standard opportunities to the young talent within the Union Territory.
The goal is to put an end to the migration of intellect, which should become a thing of the past. Otherwise, graduates from top institutions in the country who hail from J&K will gradually leave the region, thus shattering the dreams of those who truly aspire to see substantial progress and growth in J&K, on par with technologically advanced cities. These advancements should not only benefit the local population but also attract talent from other states and even foreign countries.
