Taking into account the unemployment problem which has become one of the biggest challenges for the government to address in Kashmir, the Department of Technical Education is organising a mega job festival here tomorrow.
The festival to be inaugurated by Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayed would be one of the biggest job festivals in Kashmir.
“Delegates from various industrial and corporate houses are going to participate in the job festival. Our aim is to help youth in getting jobs in good corporate houses where they can learn, prove their talent and grow. This will be one of the mega job festivals to be held in Kashmir till now,” said an official from the Department of Technical Education.
Over the last many years, unemployment in the Valley has risen manifold. An official record shows that 2, 22,180 unemployed youth have registered themselves across the state which is an alarming figure.
The job festival which will be held at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre on the banks of the Dal Lake has been welcomed by students and professionals.
“These festivals and recruitments are the need of the hour. If the government can’t provide jobs to youth, they can help in organising such programmes. We are really under depression as we have few job opportunities here,” said Shabir Ahmad, a postgraduate in management.
Unemployment has become one of the major problems faced by the young generation in Kashmir. Even Jammu and Kashmir has the highest unemployment rate in Northern India, according to a survey released by the Labour Bureau under the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment.
According to the Fourth Annual Employment-Unemployment Survey 2014, Jammu and Kashmir has an overall unemployment rate of 105 (per 1,000 persons aged 15 years and above). While at the all-India level, the unemployment rate is 49.
There have been little steps taken on the ground by successive governments.
The government so far has failed to urge industrial houses to invest in conflict-torn Kashmir.