Kashmir Cannot Live on Tourism Alone

Why the Omar Abdullah government missed an early chance to build Jammu and Kashmir's digital future, and why it must act now.

- Faisal Kawoosa

A full year into the government's tenure, there is still no clear digital policy, no formal recognition of the digital sector as a sunrise industry, and no visible roadmap to show where Jammu and Kashmir is headed or how it plans to get there. There has been no serious attempt to plug Jammu and Kashmir into India's rapidly expanding Global Capability Centre ecosystem.

Tourism is our pride. No one in Jammu and Kashmir doubts that. It feeds families, keeps small businesses alive, and gives the region a sense of global connection.

But pride alone cannot carry an economy, especially one as young, educated, and restless as ours.

One year into the Omar Abdullah government, it is fair to ask a simple question: why has the digital sector still not been treated as a serious economic priority?

This is not a verdict on the government's overall performance. That task belongs to voters and governance experts. This is a citizen’s argument about a missed opportunity.

Even within today’s limited powers and resources, much more could have been done to place Jammu and Kashmir on India’s digital map.

Every economy has legacy sectors and sunrise sectors. In J&K, the legacy sectors are obvious: tourism, agriculture, horticulture, and handicrafts. They matter deeply and must continue to receive support.

But the sunrise sectors require intention. They do not grow on their own.

Digital is the most obvious sunrise sector of our time, but Jammu and Kashmir has still not named it, framed it, or pushed it as such.

This silence is puzzling because the case for digital is unusually strong here.

Start with capital. Most digital businesses do not need massive investments. Unless you are building deep tech or hardware-heavy platforms, modest capital can go a long way.