The Jammu & Kashmir government informed the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday that it has no plans to provide stipends to unemployed youth in the Union Territory.
In a written response to a question from Samba MLA Devinder Kumar Manyal, Minister in charge of Labour & Employment Surinder Choudhary said that no such proposal was under consideration. “Currently, there is no plan to provide a stipend to unemployed youth in J&K,” he said.
The minister also revealed that 3,70,811 unemployed youth are officially registered with the government—2,13,007 in the Kashmir Valley and 1,57,804 in the Jammu region.
During the 2024 Assembly election campaign, the National Conference (NC) promised one lakh government jobs for youth in the Union Territory.
So far, the party has announced the recruitment of 575 lecturers in the School Education Department. The initiative, announced by Education Minister Sakina Itoo in October last year, is part of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s plan to create employment opportunities. The vacancies will be advertised by the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (JKPSC).
According to Abdullah, who also heads the General Administration Department, there are 32,474 vacancies across various government departments.
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However, only 3,727 of these have been referred for recruitment since October last year. In a written reply to MLA Handwara, Sajad Gani Lone, Abdullah informed the Assembly that as of 31 January, there are 2,503 gazetted vacancies, 19,214 non-gazetted vacancies, and 10,757 multi-tasking staff vacancies.
Despite the large number of vacancies, the recruitment process has been slow. The NC had pledged to create government jobs, support entrepreneurship and revive key sectors like tourism, handicrafts, and agriculture to boost employment.
However, with the government ruling out financial aid for jobless youth, concerns are growing over how effectively these promises will be fulfilled.
Unemployment remains a major challenge for the administration, especially as J&K navigates post-Article 370 economic transitions and struggles with limited private investment.
