Srinagar, June 12 -- He isn't an official. He isn't elected. But everyone knows he runs the neighbourhood.

This isn't an isolated story.

Across Kashmir, in places like Anantnag, Shopian, Baramulla and beyond, local welfare or mohalla committees have become the real face of grassroots governance. They decide things that matter: land disputes, utility access, burial plots, even character certificates.

And yet, most residents couldn't tell you how these men, because they are almost always older men, came into power.

They aren't chosen in elections. There are no manifestos, no debates.

Usually, ten to twenty insiders sit down in someone's drawing room and reach a quiet agreement. These leaders, often retired bureaucrats or influential ex...