Kashmir's economic dependence and trust deficit

The Hindu : Opinion / Leader Page Articles : Kashmir: youth bulge, peace deficit

The
foundations of an abiding peace will be laid not by words but sickles
and hammers; in farms and factories; by concrete and steel.

This is the kind of rotten justifications the sickle and hammer needs. On second thought, it might not be a bad idea to scrap article 370, pack all the communists and settle them in Kashmir so they can plant the sickle and hammer.

Praveen Swami bases his argument on the dependency ratio and economic opportunities. In 1987, Srinagar and Sopore had higher than normal dependency ratio. Without access to more detailed statistics, I can hazard a guess here. Such short-term, local imbalances can be expected. And Srinagar and Sopore are not the only places where it ever occurred. In other words, taken over a longer period of time and geography, Kashmir is not different from the rest of the country, which interestingly is reaping it as a geographic dividend. As it is often said, there are lies and bigger lies and then there is statistics. Praveen Swami is choosing his data for statistical analysis carefully.

Secondly, there is the other important aspect of what Praveen Swami is trying to hide from the readers. Kashmir is more prosperous than the rest of the country and it is bleeding India dry. It is time to ask, apart from terrorism what has been Kashmir's contribution to India. This is the time to stop appeasement of a violent minority.
J&K's dependency on Centre alarming - India - The Times of India

In 2009-10, J&K received Rs 13,252 crore as grants from the Centre, which constitutes nearly 60% of the state's total expenditure. In fact, for the past two decades since the separatist movement spread in the Kashmir valley, the centre has been propping up the state through similar doles. In all, J&K has received grants amounting to Rs 94,409 crore between 1989-90 and 2009-10.

For over a decade, from 1994-95 to 2005-06, the state received 10-12% of all grants disbursed by the central government to the states. In 2009-10, this proportion had dipped slightly to about 8%. This is way above J&K's share of India's population, which is a mere 1%.