Changing Face of Rural Kashmir: An Overview of Post 1947 Interventions

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to understand the role of modern education, science and technology and government policies, in the socio-economic transformation of Rural Kashmir after 1947. The princely state of Jammu and Kashmir passed into the hands of Dogras since it came into existence on 15^th of March 1846 as a result of ‘Treaty of Amritsar' signed between Maharaja Gulab Singh and the representatives of the East India Company. Maharaja Gulab Singh and his heirs introduced colonial type of economy in the state. The regime declared property rights of peasants as null and void, took over the property rights of the whole land of the state and reduced the status of the subjects to only the tillers. The exorbitant taxation, corruption of officialdom and the negligence of agricultural sector led to agrarian crises that hit hard upon the inhabitants of the state.' It was only after the independence of the state from autocratic rule of Dogras in 1947, that steps were taken to ameliorate the conditions of the people. An attempt has been made to trace the impact of different government policies introduced after 1947 on the socio- economic facets of the state. The paper has relied upon both, primary and secondary.