7 years research of PHD scholar helps her to prove UT’s status compared to other States, UTs
Srinagar, Aug 06: The seven year’s research of a PHD scholar from Kashmir, Sehar Iqbal has finally come to an end in the shape of a book ‘A Strategic Myth Under Development in Jammu and Kashmir’.
The writer from Kashmir has showcased that Jammu and Kashmir is not under developed but a developed State, compared to the rest of the country. She went from pillar to post and visited far-flung areas in seven years to gather the facts vis-à-vis development in Jammu and Kashmir.
Iqbal, according to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), said that she has been supported by her family in all these years in completing this book. “It was quite difficult for me to move out for research purposes having a 4-year-old with me. I am thankful to my family who supported me all the time,” she said.
“To compile this book, secondary research as well as field research was done by me in seven years,” she said, adding that it was not an easy task to gather the facts from the ground to check all the indicators in which Jammu and Kashmir is better than the other States or the Union Territories.
“I visited far-flung areas in Kashmir also to ascertain the facts,” Iqbal, a PHD scholar from Oxford University said, adding that this book is not only an academic book, but it’s for all those who want to know about Kashmir and history of Kashmiri people with proper facts and figures.
According to facts collected, Jammu and Kashmir is better than compared with other States and Union territories in terms of poverty, literacy, life expectancy, infant mortality rate, women literacy, electricity and many other things.
“J&K is less than 10 per cent in terms of poverty rate and compared to India, it is only 1/3rd,”she said as per the figures.
As far as women literacy is concerned, the rate in J&K is 69% while in India, it is 68.4 %, adding that the 87 % men are literate in J&K while in India the rate is only 85.7 %.
Iqbal hoped that this book will increase the knowledge of people and help them in comparing easily that J&K is better than the rest of the country.
This book is available at Gulshan Books, Watan Publications and also available on Amazon, she said—(KNO)