The employment challenge

Now that the revocation of the five-year long president’s rule has paved the way for the formation of a new elected government in Jammu and Kashmir, there’s every reason to approach the future with both hope, and a measure of skepticism. An elected government is expected to be receptive and responsive to public grievances and demand in the way a bureaucratic administration isn’t. The latter, however, has its advantages in swifter decision-making and a development-centric  agenda uninfluenced by politics.

But these advantages are often undone by an air of apathy that permeates a bureaucratic rule.  This is why for people, a democratic rule may be preferable to a Governor’s rule. But for a democratic government to continue to be in the good graces of the people, it has to not just acknowledge public issues but deliver on them.

It is true that the new government has very limited powers and can’t be expected to fulfill many of its promises but that should be no excuse for it to rest on its laurels. People will expect it to move fast on the issues where it can deliver. One of such issues is the rampant unemployment in the union territory, which has all but become more severe in recent years. Government jobs, the predominant source of employment in the erstwhile state, have become scarce, although there are many vacancies which need to be filled.

This is why unemployment has figured at the top as a public issue in a recent survey by the CSDS-Lokniti. Interestingly, the data reveals that the economic issues outweigh political issues with 42 per cent of the voters in both regions prioritising unemployment over other issues. In fact, Article 370 and the restoration of statehood ranked much lower in the survey than employment-related concerns, slightly more so in Jammu (41%) than in Kashmir (43%).

However, in Kashmir Valley, restoration of both Article 370 and statehood were also found very important issues, especially so, for the voters of the PDP, the Awami Ittehad Party, and the Apni Party. The new government will need to take the survey on board. While pursuing a political agenda, the NC-Congress coalition should treat unemployment as a priority issue. It has to work to provide job opportunities to thousands of educated unemployed, not just in the government but  also in entrepreneurial schemes sponsored by the government.