Examiner Bureau | Srinagar:
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Today alleged that Jammu and Kashmir is facing a severe employment crisis, claiming that the unemployment rate in the Union Territory is “nearly 38 per cent” and accusing the government of failing to create adequate job opportunities.
Speaking at a party joining programme, Mehbooba said the administration appeared to have “put its hands up” in the face of the growing economic distress, alleging that recruitment through temporary and “backdoor” arrangements had replaced efforts to provide stable employment.
“Today unemployment is so high that in Jammu and Kashmir the unemployment rate is nearly 38 per cent,” she said.
Mehbooba alleged that instead of creating sufficient employment opportunities, the government was increasingly relying on outsourcing and temporary engagements. She also raised concerns over the continued uncertainty faced by daily-wage workers and other sections of the workforce.
According to the PDP chief, the employment crisis was not confined to a particular profession, with doctors, engineers and other workers facing uncertainty over their careers and livelihoods.
Mehbooba linked the alleged employment crisis to a broader sense of frustration among people, particularly the youth.
“People are protesting everywhere,” she said, referring to demonstrations and demands involving doctors, interns, veterinary staff, nursing personnel and anganwadi workers.
She argued that the protests reflected wider dissatisfaction over employment conditions, salaries, stipends and the rising cost of living.
“On one hand, inflation has increased so much, and on the other, people’s salaries and their stipends are such that people are distressed,” she said, adding that the youth were particularly affected.
“Especially the youth are distressed; there is suffocation,” she said.
Mehbooba further alleged that the combination of unemployment, inflation and inadequate remuneration had contributed to what she described as a broader deterioration in the administrative and economic environment.
“That is why the entire system is in disarray,” she said.
The PDP president said the prevailing circumstances made it necessary for her party to strengthen its organisational base across Jammu and Kashmir.
She maintained that the PDP’s objective was not simply to return to power but to provide a political platform capable of addressing what she described as the growing challenges confronting the Union Territory.
“It is not just about power,” Mehbooba said, arguing that the PDP had a role to play in raising issues affecting ordinary people and challenging the prevailing situation.
She said the party had the political experience and space to raise its voice on issues affecting Jammu and Kashmir and work towards changing the situation.
Mehbooba also invoked the legacy of her father and PDP founder Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, recalling the political changes associated with the party during its early years in Jammu and Kashmir.
She said the PDP’s emergence in the early 2000s had contributed to changes not only within Jammu and Kashmir but also in the political thinking of New Delhi and Islamabad.
“When the PDP came, a change came here. The system changed, and that change had not only come in Jammu and Kashmir; it also came in the thinking in Delhi and Islamabad,” she said.
According to Mehbooba, the political climate of that period helped facilitate dialogue, the opening of routes and developmental initiatives.
She referred to the period as one in which political engagement and dialogue gained greater prominence, arguing that the experience demonstrated the potential of political initiatives to influence developments beyond the immediate electoral arena.
The PDP chief was speaking at a party joining programme where new members, including people who had travelled from Jammu, formally joined the organisation.
Welcoming the new entrants, Mehbooba said their participation would strengthen the PDP’s presence across Jammu and Kashmir.
“Many storms came, but we remained steadfast and continued to face the challenges,” she said.
Expressing hope that the latest additions would help expand the party’s organisational reach, she said the PDP would continue working to strengthen itself throughout the Union Territory.
The remarks come amid a wider political debate in Jammu and Kashmir over unemployment, recruitment, contractual employment, inflation and the economic prospects of young people. Mehbooba’s comments place these concerns at the centre of the PDP’s political messaging as the party seeks to consolidate its organisational position across the Union Territory.
