Rural Development and Health: A Case Study of the Ganderbal Block (J&K)

Abstract

This research study evaluated the implications of rural development on health in Kashmir with special reference to the Ganderbal Block. The health status of the people in Kashmir has not been able to keep pace with the national level of achievements. The conflict situation of the last few decades has also worsened the condition. Consequently, a considerable segment of population is living below the poverty line, with poor infrastructure. The main complaints of health are headache, blurring of vision, backache, abdominal pain, limb pains and respiratory tract infection. There have been some improvements in health with respect to certain indicators. After 1990, there has been a sudden decline in the annual birth rate, which decreased to nearly 20 per million from the level of 34 per million. The annual death rate also registered a sharp decline from 7.90 in 1990 to 5.40 in 1998 in the state. A comparison of infant mortality with the rest of the country shows that the IMR in Kashmir is 45.4, far below the national average of 71.6 per thousand. This indicates a very positive signal for the state towards reducing infant deaths. The main objective of rural development has been to bring improvement in the level of living, including health, nutrition, employment, education, housing and various social services; decrease inequality of rural incomes and rural–urban differences in income; and the capacity of the rural sector to sustain and accelerate the pace of improvement in rural areas. Since rural development has been a popular programme of development in Kashmir, this study seriously intended to trace the status of health by adopting an intensive approach through a case-study method.