The unemployment rate in Jammu and Kashmir has surged past 30 percent in the month of August, according to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy.
The unemployment rate which stood at 32.8 percent in August is the highest in the last several years and the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) said it marks a spike of nearly 12 percent against the month of July when the unemployment rate was 20. 2 percent.
According to CMIE, the unemployment rate stood at 12.3 per cent in January 2016 and it touched the high of 29.6 percent in November 2016. However, after the nullification of Article 370, the unemployment rate has gone up considerably.
In March 2022, the rate went up to 25.0 percent, which was the second highest since November 2016.
Unemployment has been on a surge since the revocation of Article 370 due to lack of any major economic activity.
J&K’s unemployment increased by nearly 6 percent in September 2019, increasing from 16 to 22 percent. During the lockdown after Article 370 abrogation, businesses in Kashmir suffered losses worth Rs 18,000 crore from August 5, 2019 to January 2020.
According to a Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI) report, some 5000 workers in tourism and mobile services business workers, including hundreds of shops in Lal Chowk and its adjoining areas were not paid wages in August, September, and October while 4.96 lakh people lost their jobs.
The rising rate of unemployment rate in J&K has forced several scholars to search for alternative forms of employment, even though the J&K admin stresses that it is employing youth, however, the figures released by CMIE show an upward trend of unemployment in the region.
In 2021, the Directorate of Employment recorded three lakh registrations by postgraduates and PhD degree holders for jobs while 8000 class IV posts were advertised by Jammu Kashmir Service Selection Board in which more than 5.4 lakh aspirants applied for these posts.
As per official data, the J&K administration notified around 10,000 jobs, of which 8,575 were Class IV posts ever since the new domicile laws were introduced in May 2020, which allow non-residents to apply.
According to GoI’s Periodic Labour Force Survey report, unemployment figures among educated youth in Jammu Kashmir touched a staggering 46.3 per cent.
The report “Periodic Labour Force Survey April-June 2021” released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation last month states that Jammu Kashmir’s urban unemployment rate for the age group 15-29 age has reached 46.3 per cent from the 44.1 per cent in comparison to the previous quarter.