Unemployment among educated youth has been one of the major problems facing the country. It is more serious in J&K State for the reason that we have no industries worth the name that could absorb the youth. At present the Government is the major industry for providing employment but that too has reached the saturation point. It is even observed that many departments of the Government are over staffed and retrenchment should be considered in order to lessen the burden of expenditure on the Government. Naturally the Government is seized with this social problem which, as we know, is gradually overflowing to political sector.
Employment of youth is closely connected with the financial and economic health of the State. Therefore ways and means have to be looked for if the youth are to be employed profitably. That is why experts believe that the State must be pulled out of its non-industrial complexion. Why have not industries developed in the State when we know that industrialization is the viable remedy to unemployment. Many reasons are suggested. Industrialization meaning installation and expansion of such industries in the State as are conducive to its physical and geographical conditions has never been prioritized.
Apart from this, a major deficiency that has dogged employment chances for the youth is the lack of proper training and skills. This is an age of excellence and perfection. Each trade and each profession has to have manpower that is skilled and productive. Just having an educational degree would not help. We are living in a mechanized world system and all services needed to keep us alive have to be professionally competitive.
The need for addressing the issue of unemployment among the educated youth in our State surfaced with the rise of militancy in 1989. It was found that most of the youth lured to militancy were the educated unemployed one and not being able to find employment then decided to join militancy merely out of frustration. Research and analysis has shown that this phenomenon needs to be tackled and reversed. Policy planners took up the issue seriously. Even at the level of Prime Minister’s Office, the matter was discussed with all earnestness. The Prime Minister appointed his economic advisor to study the matter and report on how the question of unemployed youth in J&K could be tackled. In his report, the advisor suggested that an important requirement was that the youth in J&K should be provided with training and skills if they were to be absorbed in industries and other openings. The proposal was accepted and a number of big business houses were consulted. Many among them agreed to provide necessary training and skills to the youth of the State and after completion of training absorb them in their organizations on regular basis. In a recent interview the Union Home Minister said that over 3,800 youths from Jammu and Kashmir will be given special job-oriented training by Government and private aided organisations. He told reporters that a recent meeting of the Project Approval Committee approved proposals of IL and FS Skill Development Corporation (ISDC), Apollo Technical Education Foundation, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and ONGC to train 3,875 candidates from J&K under the Special Industry Initiative (SII). This initiative is aimed at providing special trainings, on skill development to youths from the Jammu and Kashmir. Actually according to Rangarajan report about one lakh youth from Jammu and Kashmir are to be provided training and skill for specialized jobs in next five years. The process has already begun and it will greatly help to reduce unemployment among the youth.
Follow our WhatsApp channel