Gendered welfare outcomes

Women literacy in Kashmir is among the highest in the country but women employment isn’t. A rise in the former without a simultaneous increase in the latter, makes limited sense and almost no difference in the gendered welfare outcomes. A study of the pattern of women education in Kashmir, in particular, manifests a skewness towards social sciences and subtle literatures and language genres. Though STEM education has increased lately but the former continues to dominate women’s education map of the region.  The pure formal sector, the government sector, has steadily saturated over time; more so because the global dynamics have altered and the contemporary day already has the first trillionaire of the world! Capitalism continues to spread its wings unstoppably. In Kashmir, the private sector started very late and continues to be small. The formal part of the private sector is immensely minuscule while its informal part is comparatively larger. At the same time, the average household income of a Kashmiri household is more tilted towards an egalitarian universality than towards inequality and wealth concentration amongst a top few. Over time, multiple factors like social structures, religious overshadowing, geographic isolation etc. have shaped the ideology of the people in a way that if women weren’t able to find work in the formal government sector, they would rather not work. This choice didn’t affect the basic levels of the household welfare.  Over time however, more and more women are seeking higher and tertiary education. Internet and reels have taken over. The aspirations of women are ever so high and rather concentrated in the same direction of seeking financial independence, enhancing their bargaining power and coming out of the shackles of limiting patriarchal order. Kashmiri women are equally a part of the process and stakeholders with a strong voice. But with an education in formal social sciences and no other marketable skill and the limitations of the pure formal sector to provide them gainful employment, this bulging problem needs a local solution.  Of the ten districts of Kashmir Valley, nine are predominantly rural. The rural women’s educational outcomes in the region are as good as that of the urban women. Most of the contemporary rural women in the age group 20-40 are not only literate but well educated. They are tech savvy and aware about global affairs. These women have upskilled themselves in simple and complex affairs using internet and information communication. But, most of them continue living within the limits of the unremunerated care economic systems.  An average rural woman spends most part of her free time in her kitchen garden. Quite often, doing small chores and subsistence farming. Women often refer to their kitchen garden as a safe heven and a place to peacefully heave a sigh of relief. There is a historic timeline across seasons that the women calmly and silently follow. Across year, they keep on sowing, tending to and reaping different crops. The main purpose often being meeting the requirements and needs of the household without relying on the markets. Simultaneously, it is the safe zone of women where they freely express themselves and spend quality time to best fit their definition of happiness.  With an increase in the educational pursuits and attainments of women across Kashmir, the perceptions and expectations both have been witnessing a shift. Women who consider themselves educated often tend to look for work in the formal, organized wage economy. With a saturated government sector and limited private sector, educated women across the rural Kashmir have steadily been moving away from the farms and kitchen gardens. At the same time, a highly small and concentrated cohort of this educated young group is able to find the desired work. The majority however ends up in a loss; one they lose touch with the roots and two they find no productive work to do. Instead, they tend to spend time doing non-productive activities like watching TV and scrolling social media. Local problems need local solutions conceived by local experts with a familiarity with the local problems and issues. Based on the above discussion in light of the contemporary consumption and health challenges, the solution to the much-hyped unemployment problem in Kashmir lies well within the local system. Isolating the case of rural Kashmiri women, with a decent level of education, knowhow and exposure, if farming is explored as an entrepreneurial venture and traditional tasks carried out with a shift towards modern technology and advanced processed, most of the rural female unemployment can be well taken care of. The simple roadmap to this strategy starts with potential identification. Rural areas need to be studied and explored in a rigorous scientific and socio-economic manner. Potential activities need to be segregated based on gender specializations and capabilities; striking an ideal mix of traditions, upskilling and education. A framework for the subsidized schemes need to be developed based on the data-driven inputs so generated. The activities predominantly can include commercial level cropping of Kashmiri garlic, roses, lavender, apple, plum, cherries and much more. An allied women led food processing industry is an equally high potential low-investment activity that can change the gendered employment and output map of rural Kashmir. Practicing and empirical economists have been missing from the policy formulation lobbies for almost all of planned period in Kashmir’s history right from the beginning. While it is late but still not too late to take on board the practitioners of data-society-theory to design relevant and appropriate policies for the targeted sections of Jammu & Kashmir citizenry.  Dr. Mehak Majeed is an economist.