Unemployed youth cling to Indian-administered Kashmir elections for hope

SRINAGAR: Ayaz Nabi Malik from the Pulwama district in India’s Jammu and Kashmir region has a master’s degree but has been unemployed for nearly a decade.
Like many others in his situation, the 30-year old is looking toward the local assembly elections on Sept. 18 to Oct.1 — the first in 10 years — with some hope after political parties put tackling youth unemployment at the heart of their campaigns.
With unemployment in the region running at 18.3 percent, nearly double India’s national average of 9.2 percent, the situation is desperate, say locals. There is a lot of competition for government jobs given the development of the private sector has been limited by decades of conflict and unstable governance.
A 28-year-old man from Srinagar who graduated in civil engineering in 2021 told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that the situation had gotten so bad that he was now suffering from anxiety and depression.
“I’ve been struggling to get a government job ever since I completed my degree, but I haven’t been able to secure one. Now, without a job, I find myself battling suicidal thoughts every day,” said the man, who will remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the issue.
To address these deepening economic and social problems, the contending parties, including India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and regional parties Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), are promising to create jobs for young people and upskill workers.
With an estimated 600,000 people currently out of work in the Jammu and Kashmir region, those policies can’t come soon enough, said Javid Ahmed Tenga, president of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI). The territory had a population of around 12.5 million in 2011, according to the latest census available.
“As the elections approach, it’s crucial that the next government introduces policies that bolster the private sector and promote skill-based initiatives to effectively tackle the unemployment crisis,” he said.
POLITICAL PROMISES
Nearly 9 million people are registered to vote for the legislative assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. The decision to hold regional elections for the first time in a decade comes after India’s Supreme Court upheld a decision by the government to scrap the region’s special status.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi withdrew Jammu and Kashmir’s special autonomy in 2019 and split the former state into two federal territories, aiming to tighten its grip on the Muslim-majority region. The region has been at the center of decades of animosity between India and Pakistan since independence from British colonial rule.
Modi says the region’s special status had held back its development.
“After the revocation of (the special status), the Modi government claimed that a lot of money would come in and that big companies would arrive to boost the economy and create employment in Kashmir,” said Sarah Hayat Shah, a spokesperson for JKNC, which is seen as the top contender at the regional elections. “However, these turned out to be nothing more than hollow promises.”
She said her party plans to add 100,000 jobs among the youth across various sectors, including skilled jobs under a start-up scheme.
The JKNC also plans to introduce an initiative that focuses on creating sustainable employment opportunities, or the Jammu and Kashmir Youth Employment Generation Act, within three months of taking office, she said.
The PDP party aims to create jobs in various sectors including horticulture, agriculture, and the tourism industry, said Waheed Ur Rehman Para, a PDP candidate for the assembly of the Pulwama constituency.
Para said the PDP was committed to expanding the livelihood program, which foresees setting up centers across municipalities and rural areas to teach prospective candidates practical skills for employment and entrepreneurship, with a focus on the youth.
“Many have been living in a state of hopelessness,” said 36-year old Para, who is also the PDP’s youth leader.
RECRUITMENT PROCESS
The unemployed man from Srinagar said he had applied for several jobs advertised by the local Jammu Kashmir administration but had never been selected, calling the process “unfair” and a “scam.”
The local Jammu Kashmir administration did not immediately reply to the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s request for a comment. Kashmir is currently run by Manoj Sinha, a governor appointed by the BJP-led government.
The BJP said in its election manifesto that it was committed to making sure the recruitment process for government jobs in the Jammu and Kashmir region is transparent.
Such allegations are not uncommon. In June, opposition parties and thousands of students protested against Modi’s government for alleged irregularities in recent government-run tests for medical college admissions.
The man from Srinagar said he would vote in the upcoming election, having not voted in 2014, because the parties seem more focused on tackling youth unemployment this time around.
Back in Pulwama, Malik said he was hopeful as he prepares to vote for the first time in his life.
“After a decade of no local representation, there is significant anticipation among the unemployed youth like me who have been waiting for the democratic process to resume and elect candidates who will prioritize job creation,” he said.