Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Himachal Pradesh (HP) are the two northern states of the Indian union. The two neighbouring states are mountainous and backward as compared to the rest of the country. Of the two, J&K has more natural resources and population. On the contrary, HP, over time, has demonstrated higher outcomes in terms of basic indicators, gross state domestic product (GSDP) and economic growth. This article examines these two economies and attempts to compare them on the basis of their respective efficiencies in industrial production. Although data on GSDP show that HP has grown over time and has surpassed that of J&K in 2017–2018, technical efficiencies of the two regions, as drawn from Annual Survey of Industries (2017), are low and converging. Stochastic frontier results demonstrate that industrialisation in both regions is labour-intensive. Tobit regression results point to low contribution of inputs towards technical efficiency. Also, minimal use of communication and technology, low profits and weak policies contribute negatively in the direction of the technical efficiency of the firms in the two regions. The results specifically imply that in the region of J&K, government support and interventions are needed to address both endogenous and exogenous factors contributing to firms’ inefficiencies.

The analysis of gender in conflict and fragile situations is an emerging area of research. Little to no attention has been paid to it up until very recently. There is scant scholarly work available that directly addresses this issue, and there is no research on the relationship between gender and low intensity conflict in Kashmir. It is in this light that the current research note has been written. It traces the broad impact that conflict has had on the lives of women living in the Kashmir region, the conflict centric part of Jammu and Kashmir. Through this research note it is established that the women in Kashmir have been exposed to the shock of unpredicted fragility, and the study is further endorsed by some instantial ethnographic case studies. These shocks have impacted them economically, psychologically and socially. Generations of women have been suffering from the negative impact of the conflict. Alhough disastrous for the most part, women have gradually developed some resilience. With time more and more Kashmiri women have been striving towards gaining economic independence by learning skills, by the acquisition of education and by being gainfully employed.

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Around 60.6% of health expenditure in India originates from private spending or out-of-pocket expenditure. Such large health spending has a tendency to sink sizeable number of people into poverty and deepen the already poor into more appalling conditions. This article makes an attempt to study the impact of health expenditure on poverty levels in the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) region of India using micro-level data (68th round of National Sample Survey Organisation [NSSO]). First, a region-wise poverty profile is estimated, then, poverty deepening and incidence of catastrophic health expenditure is measured. Finally, socio-economic determinants of catastrophic health expenditure are estimated using logit and probit models. The results show that the poverty levels further increase by around 2% (estimated 185,000 individuals) on account of out-of-pocket health expenditure. Also, poverty gap increases, deepening the economic distress of the poor people. The highest gap is observed in most vulnerable areas, such as hilly and geographically disadvantageous regions. An estimated 9.6% of population in J&K spends catastrophic out-of-pocket health expenditure and 2.6% spend more than their capacity to pay. Married, higher per capita expenditure groups, and socially weaker sections exhibit increased probability of experiencing health catastrophe while as higher levels of education decreases this likelihood.

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