Opinion | Role of women in Kashmir’s socio-economic development

Kashmiri women have always been the voice of resilience, pioneer of development and catalyst for change, who have been transforming the lives and communities.

Economic growth means not only creation of wealth but also creating people’s capacity to create wealth and that resides in their health, education, knowledge and skills. Achieving the highest level of human development is possible with improvement in social and economic well-being of a society. In the recently released Global Gender Gap Index-2022 by the World Economic Forum, India was ranked at 135th position out of 146 countries depicting disparities between men and women in economic, social, political, intellectual and cultural fronts. The question remains where we failed women? It’s not that Indian women are not working, it’s about her work not getting recognized despite being a significant contributor over various sectors.

India’s diverse climate and geography allows for the cultivation of a wide variety of crops making it largely an agrarian economy providing livelihood to half of the population. Highlighting the contributions made in this sector women’s work gets highly unseen, remains invisible and unpaid. From sowing to harvesting women plays a crucial role. Despite their extensive involvement her work is constantly undervalued, poorly compensated and under-reported as she holds limited ownership and decision making about the financial investments and farming methods. Among all this Kashmir is setting an example where we see women are involving themselves in agriculture and turning it into a significant source of income. Struggling through the traditionally patriarchal norms, Kashmiri women are not only empowering themselves but reshaping gender roles, moving away from traditional practices to adoption of modern farming practices. Very often we see the media documenting the work of these women who have made their name in entrepreneurship from job seekers who have become job creators who once were employees turning to be the employers irrespective of their formal educational qualifications.

In the horticulture industry also we are witnessing her significantly contributing, many women have started to manage and own their orchids, saffron fields and flower farms catering all the demands from local to international markets. Women in kashmir are very much diving into agri-entrepreneurship, turning small ventures into full fledged businesses. The entrepreneurial spirit is creating new opportunities for them to earn higher incomes and develop marketable brands like Jamkle Jars (pickle brand), Tulpalav (clothing), Tiffin Aaw (Tiffin service), wazir.C (fashion brand), Luxuries of Kashmir, etc. women have taken up mushroom farming, sheep rearing and from thriving trout farms to the transformation of barren land into profitable lavender farm women of kashmir are taking stride in empowerment and their development. The genderedness of professions like term waza and wazwan being always associated and synonymous with men got challenged by the group of women from Ganderbal who got training from one of the wazwan chiefs in five day training by NRLM that successfully set the trend of seeing waz women mastering kashmiri gourmet delights. There is a growing trend and demand for organic products hence women here are leading the shift towards organic farming. It not only brings them a premium price in markets but also contributes to healthier and sustainable ecosystems. Through livestock rearing, beekeeping, dairy farming women are generating income enhancing their economic resilience.
Agriculture once considered the domain of men, is now being seen as a potential field where women can excel and lead. By managing farms, making investments and taking business decisions these women are breaking stereotypes and encouraging other women to pursue economic independence and contributing to their overall socio economic development.

On the other hand many are getting involved in tech and IT sectors working as software engineers, web developers and excelling in digital roles. The rise of online platforms have opened new avenues for women to work remotely or engage in e-commerce ventures, especially in selling kashmiri products to global markets.
While challenges like social conservatism, patriarchal rigidity, lack of infrastructure, kashmiri women are still finding ways to integrate themselves into the economy, contributing both locally and globally. Elimination of barriers against women working in certain sectors or occupations could increase output by raising women’s participation and labour productivity by as much as 25% through better allocation of their skills and talent. It’s evident that when women control more household income, children benefit as the result of more spending on food and education.
It’s not only about economic gains but about building a community of empowered women.

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