MUSHTAQ BALA
Jammu and Kashmir has entered a new political chapter, but the real test of this chapter will not be measured by speeches, slogans or the number of announcements made from government offices. It will be measured by something much more fundamental: whether the lives of ordinary people actually improve.
The people of Jammu and Kashmir have lived through extraordinary political, economic and social uncertainty. The return of an elected government created expectations of a different kind of governance—one that would listen, respond and deliver. Nearly two years into the present political dispensation, those expectations remain high.
The question before the government is therefore not merely what it intends to do. The question is: what can it demonstrate?
That distinction has become particularly important in recent days.
The decision by the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission to increase the average power tariff by 6.83 per cent from September 1 has triggered criticism across Jammu and Kashmir. The government has defended the increase as a compulsion arising from the financial realities of the power sector, while critics have pointed to the gap between election promises and what consumers are now being asked to pay. (Hindustan Times)
Both sides of the argument deserve to be heard.
There is no denying that the power sector faces serious financial challenges. Cheap or free electricity without addressing transmission losses, revenue collection, power theft and the financial health of the distribution system cannot be a sustainable long-term policy.
But there is another reality that policymakers cannot ignore: a tariff is never merely a number on a government order. It reaches directly into the household budget.
For a family already struggling with education expenses, healthcare costs, food prices and unemployment, even a modest increase can matter.
This is where governance becomes more than administration. It becomes a question of trust.
The promise-and-performance gap
Democracy naturally creates expectations. Political parties seek votes by presenting a vision of what they can accomplish. Once elected, however, the responsibility changes. A government is no longer simply making promises; it is managing limited resources, competing priorities and difficult realities.
The public understands that every promise cannot necessarily be implemented overnight.
What people expect is honesty about those limitations.
If a promise cannot be fulfilled within the original timeframe, explain why. If circumstances have changed, tell people what has changed. If a policy requires sacrifice, explain what the sacrifice will achieve.
People can accept difficult decisions when they believe that those decisions are necessary, transparent and fairly distributed.
What they find difficult to accept is the feeling that political promises disappear once elections are over.
Statehood remains a defining expectation
For Jammu and Kashmir, governance also has a larger political dimension.
Restoration of statehood remains one of the most important expectations surrounding the present political arrangement. The issue is not simply about administrative status. For many people, it represents dignity, political empowerment and the restoration of a constitutional arrangement they believe better reflects the aspirations of the people.
The elected government has repeatedly raised the issue.
But while political questions remain important, the government must simultaneously demonstrate that the institutions currently available to it can work effectively.
Statehood may ultimately be decided at the national level. Good governance cannot wait for statehood.
Roads can be repaired. Hospitals can be improved. schools can function better. Government offices can become more responsive. Tourism can be managed professionally. Youth programmes can be evaluated honestly. Municipal services can become more efficient.
These are not questions that require waiting for another constitutional moment.
The youth question
Perhaps nowhere is the gap between aspiration and reality more visible than among Jammu and Kashmir’s young people.
A generation has grown up with smartphones, access to global information and ambitions that extend far beyond traditional government employment.
Yet many young people continue to see a government job as the safest—or sometimes the only dependable—career option.
That must change.
Jammu and Kashmir needs an economy capable of creating private employment at scale.
Tourism alone cannot absorb an entire generation. Nor can government recruitment.
The future has to include technology, horticulture, food processing, handicrafts, filmmaking, creative industries, renewable energy, logistics, healthcare, education, startups and modern services.
The government’s role should be to create the conditions in which young people can build businesses and careers rather than waiting indefinitely for recruitment notifications.
A young graduate should not have to choose between preparing for another competitive examination and leaving Kashmir.
Tourism: numbers are not enough
Jammu and Kashmir has immense tourism potential, but the conversation must now move beyond visitor numbers.
The real question should be: how much of the tourism economy remains in Kashmir and Jammu?
A tourist arriving in Srinagar, visiting a few destinations and leaving is one thing. A tourist who stays longer, uses local transport, eats at local establishments, buys local products, visits lesser-known destinations and returns with a positive experience is something else.
Tourism policy should therefore focus on quality, duration of stay and local economic participation.
The same principle applies to film tourism.
Jammu and Kashmir possesses landscapes, culture, history and human stories that can attract filmmakers from across India and abroad. But the opportunity should be converted into a genuine local industry—one that creates employment for technicians, actors, writers, musicians, photographers, hospitality workers and young filmmakers.
Horticulture needs a new economic model
The same transformation is necessary in horticulture.
Kashmir’s apples and other horticultural products are globally recognised, but the real opportunity lies in moving from merely producing fruit to building a complete value chain.
Cold storage, grading, packaging, branding, processing, transportation and international marketing can generate far greater value than simply selling raw produce.
The farmer should not be the weakest link in the chain.
If Jammu and Kashmir wants a stronger economy, it must ensure that value addition happens closer to the producer.
Accountability is not opposition
An elected government should not fear questions.
In fact, questions are a sign of a functioning democracy.
The Chief Minister himself has recently emphasised that the opposition has a responsibility to question the government and hold it accountable. (The Times of India)
That principle should extend beyond the Assembly.
Journalists should ask difficult questions. Civil society should scrutinise decisions. Citizens should demand explanations. Opposition parties should offer alternatives rather than merely opposing every government decision.
And the government should respond without treating criticism as hostility.
A mature democracy needs all four.
The road ahead
Jammu and Kashmir does not need another politics of permanent disappointment.
Nor does it need exaggerated optimism.
It needs realism.
The government must acknowledge the difficult financial position of the power sector while protecting vulnerable consumers. It must pursue employment generation rather than relying excessively on government recruitment. It must improve public services. It must strengthen tourism without allowing uncontrolled commercialisation. It must modernise horticulture and create new industries around local resources.
And above all, it must communicate honestly with the people.
The coming years should be judged through measurable outcomes.
How many jobs were created?
How many businesses survived beyond their first year?
How much investment actually reached the ground?
How much did tourist spending benefit local communities?
Did power losses decline?
Did government hospitals improve?
Did schools deliver better learning outcomes?
Did farmers receive a larger share of the final market price?
These are the questions that matter.
Political slogans have a short life. Performance leaves a lasting record.
Jammu and Kashmir has waited through many political chapters. The people now deserve a chapter in which governance is judged not by promises made, but by promises kept.
The opportunity exists.
The responsibility is enormous.
And ultimately, history will not ask how eloquently leaders described the future.
It will ask what they actually did to build it.
Mushtaq Bala is Editor-in-Chief of Kashmir Pen, an award-winning filmmaker, cultural commentator, and advocate for peace through narrative media.
