Suchergebnisse

Study conducted in Jammu District, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Women are amongst the poorest and the most vulnerable population of our society. They are not able to reap the benefits of the various developmental schemes launched by the government for their betterment. For raising their socio-economic conditions, the scheme of Self Help Groups was started many years ago in India. In various parts of the country, Self-Help Groups, which are an informal association of women in any rural or semi-urban area, are working very well with the objective of empowering women economically, socially, politically, institutionally and spiritually. Thousands of the women in India are building their lives, their families and their society through Self help groups. The broad goals of a self-help group are to bring about socio-economic change in the lives of its members and society. In Jammu and Kashmir, under the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, a scheme of starting SHGs for women of the border state was stated under the name 'JKNRLM-Umeed' in 2011. The present research paper seeks to explore if the JKNRLM-Umeed is working to empower women by providing finance to them and making the women self-dependent. The paper would also analyze this scheme and the provision of micro-finance facility to the poor women who need it and its economic impact of the working of SHG and its members. The study would also find out if the scheme is helping in the reduction of poverty among women by providing small loan to them for some entrepreneurial activity. The paper would try to understand how the rural women are making themselves self dependent by getting some financial support to earn their livelihood and lead a better life.

Education is one of the most important instruments for social, economic and political transformation in any society anywhere in the world. A well-educated and skilled population equipped with knowledge not only drives socio-economic development but also ensures personal growth too. In India, there is a constitutional obligation to make available free and compulsory education to all children in the age group of 06-14 years. The schemes like the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan (secondary education) are also working towards achieving this goal. These schemes are being implemented in Jammu and Kashmir too but the results painstakingly slow. Several surveys and reports have shown that there are several issues in the elementary education in the rural areas of Jammu and Kashmir including poor school infrastructure etc. As 72 % of people live in rural areas of Jammu and Kashmir, it important to study what are the infrastructural facilities available to the students in the rural schools. The present paper focuses on the issues and concerns in the rural school infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir. The paper would also try to put forth some suggestions for improving educational infrastructural facilities in these schools of rural Jammu and Kashmir.

The twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu province in the Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir have a significant population of Scheduled Tribes. Poonch district has 36.9 % population of Gujjar and Bakkarwal scheduled tribes both of which are nomadic in character. A majority of the Scheduled Tribe population of Poonch district migrates to higher reaches in summer with their cattle, sheep, goat and buffalos in search of better pastures for their herds due to which their children are deprived of education. Each year, over 20,000 people migrate to the summer pastures as part of their annual seasonal migratory practices, from the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri to the Pir Panjal ranges and further. The present paper seeks to understand the challenges of elementary education among scheduled tribes of Poonch district. It would also explore the initiatives taken by the government for the education of STs in Poonch and would suggest some measures for improving educational levels of the tribes in Poonch.

Gujjar and Bakkarwal tribes are the scheduled tribes found in all the three regions of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, one of the border states of India. Out of the total twelve Scheduled Tribes of J&K, Gujjar and Bakkarwal tribes form 69.1 percent of the total ST population. These twin tribes which also form the third largest community in Jammu and Kashmir, are mostly nomadic who move to the lower and middle mountain areas of Pir Panjal in search of better pastures in the summer with their cattle and come back to the plains in the winters. The literacy rate of Gujjar and Bakkarwals is quite low. There are a number of educational provisions for migratory Gujjar-Bakkarwal populations in the form of stationary and permanent government schools at different places all over the state. But at the summer locations where the good numbers of nomadic children are available who move there with their parents, the educational facilities are again very less. For the education of the children of the nomadic populations of Gujjar and Bakkarwals, 'Seasonal Educational Schools' have been set up where the teachers do not accompany the nomadic children but continue to remain at the temporary camps of the nomads and provide education to those children who are at the higher reaches with their families and cattle for better pastures. The present paper aims to understand the role played by seasonal education camps in the education of nomadic children in J&K. It also seeks to explore the attempts made by the Jammu and Kashmir government to provide education to nomads during their seasonal migratory practices. The paper would also suggest few measures for providing better education to pastoral nomads.

Gujjar and Bakkarwals are the twin nomadic community of Jammu and Kashmir who have been granted Scheduled Tribe (ST) status due to their backwardness. The Bakkarwals are primarily nomads who move from plains to the higher altitudes with their flock as part of their annual season journeys with their livestock. The literacy rate among the Bakkarwal community is quite low in comparison to other 12 ST communities in the state. The present paper focuses on the status of education among the nomadic Bakkarwal children in Kakalote block of border district of Rajouri. The study aims to explore the reasons behind educational backwardness among Bakkarwal tribes, if any. Besides it also seeks to find out the measures taken by the Jammu and Kashmir government to provide education to nomads/Bakkarwal tribes.