Due to the lack of cogent policy directives and inefficient governance in the past, it has come to fore that the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is plagued by a significant unemployment rate prevailing among its educated youth populace.
What is more striking is that Jammu and Kashmir’s unemployment rate is higher than some of the states and Union Territories in the country. How did it come to this all through these years? Surely, there has been a great neglect and lack of decisive policy measures. It is a really worrying scenario given the high percentage of youth population in Jammu and Kashmir. Add to this, it is the youth who have mostly borne the brunt of the violent conflict in all these years.
The government cannot provide a government job to everyone even though posts have been advertised and jobs at every level have been provided to the deserving youth in the past two years using a fair selection procedure. For instance, the interview/viva process, which often was misused in the past for corruption and malpractices by the politico-bureaucratic class, for all the non-gazetted posts has been done away with altogether.
The recruitment is now done fairly on the basis of a written examination and merit decides the final selection. It has ensured inclusivity, transparency and merit in the recruitment process which was missing in the past. But government cannot promise a government job to everyone in J&K. It doesn’t happen anywhere in the world, even in the developed world.
The government can at best create a conducive atmosphere for business investment to create jobs and wealth creation. Unlike the rest of the country, in J&K, government sector is still the biggest employment provider to the educated youth.
The problem of unemployment is a very critical one and it needs some radical intervention. In the past, governments at both State and Centre have ignored this vital aspect and it is something that has left the youth vulnerable to be exploited by the vested interests.
One of the main reasons for Jammu and Kashmir facing such a high unemployment rate is that there is a lack of private sector in the region. This is a grave injustice with the youth of J&K as their full human resource potential has not been harnessed. Owing to the lack of efforts in promoting investment and private sector, J&K’s economy has been left behind and hasn’t integrated with the economy of the rest of the country and the rest of the world.
The past political and bureaucratic elite were happy as long as the status quo benefitted their narrow class interests. It was a sort of oligarchy in place within the democratic setup. However, the large populace especially youth were left behind at the margins which is now getting reflected in these facts and figures.
No radical policy measures were instituted and no avenues explored to generate growth and employment opportunities for the youth of J&K. Now when ground breaking initiatives are being undertaken to generate jobs and growth, it must be welcomed. One of these radical policy measures is the way the L-G administration with central government’s support is trying hard to attract path-breaking business investment into the state.
It is something that hasn’t attracted much headlines as it should. After all, these landmark policy measures are going to benefit our unemployed youth.
But it is also a fact that this business investment needs a conducive atmosphere both in terms of political stability and business friendly regulations. It is this need which is necessitating the changes in archaic laws and regulations, including land laws which create hassles for the investors and business corporates with regards to the ease of doing business.
And if the government is finally awakening to this reality in generating avenues for youth by bringing in necessary reforms, it must be welcomed by all. Already, the UT administration is proactively making efforts to invite national and international business investors to J&K.
In this vein, MOUs are being signed and more are in the offing. As a result of these efforts, one is expecting the creation of nearly 5 lakh jobs for the youth of J&K as the UT is all set to get Rs 25,000-30,000 crore of private investment in the next few years. It will change the economic scenario in a broad way by ushering in jobs, growth, prosperity, revenue generation, development in the infrastructure and rise of exports by integrating the economy of J&K with the global economy.
It is imperative that conducive atmosphere is created for such big, massive investment. Any sound economic policy takes into account the apprehensions of investors and corporates. Hence, there was a need felt to enact necessary changes in the Land Revenue Act. It is the only motivation behind it; the greater good of the people of J&K especially its youth.
The new policy states that “The regulations are necessitated after the legislative changes in the Land Revenue Act post-reorganisation of the erstwhile state. They have been issued to regulate the uncontrolled conversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes on the one hand and keep the developmental aspirations of the UT and the people on the other hand… The powers have been delegated to the District Collectors to grant permission for land up to 12 ½ standard acres against a fee of 5% of the market value of the land notified under the Stamps Act.”
It will empower the business investors to commence the non-agriculture use within one year from the date of the order and greatly facilitate the setting up of their business enterprises on private land which is integral to this Rs 51,000 crore investment in J&K.
A 2019 World Bank Report explores the problems investors often face in the developing world especially India in doing their investment. The report states that the rigid land and labour laws and protectionist trade policies are the main stumbling blocks in business investment. As the report notes, it thus affects the economic productivity. Any serious scholarly study will show you how J&K has been plagued by economic unproductivity as it has become a largely consumer state. The landmark investment is expected to transform it into a productive economy.
One still cannot fathom the reasons why the regional political parties in J&K like NC and PDP are opposing these steps especially when looking at their own past records in doing nothing to bring reforms and growth while promoting the interests of their tiny cabal of dynasties and allied lieutenants at the expense of the larger populace? Why to make this as an issue of political partisanship if it is going to benefit our youth in the long run? When it comes to benefiting our youth, we all must rise above the partisan and petty political interests.
Youth in J&K have suffered enough; their genuine interests should not be dragged into political point-scoring and contestation. One is certain that people in the Union Territory will awaken to this pragmatic reality and welcome the efforts of the government which are going to generate employment and growth.
A World Bank report titled “World Development Report 2005”, asserts that a good investment climate, which addresses the local institutional, regulatory and policy environment in which firms operate, stimulates economic growth by providing firms with the incentive to invest and improve productivity. It is imperative that there are incentives to attract investment.
In J&K, we have limited natural resources and hence it is imperative that the rigid land laws are reformed for our own benefit if we are to become a productive economy. The necessary changes in land laws are a step in that direction. This is what prosperous states have done in India and the rest of the world in the modern times.
It includes even those states like Punjab and Haryana which opened to the private investment by bringing in the necessary land law changes and reforms, yet no damage or harm has been done to agricultural land there. Within the existing laws, there are enough safeguards and regulations protecting the interests of the farmers and the agricultural/horticultural land.
An unfounded paranoia has been created by the vested interests without any basis to their arguments. In the past two years, not a single inch of land has been lost, harmed or handed over to anyone. So people need to relax, have trust in the government initiatives, and welcome the path breaking investment which may change our future once for all.
For that to happen, we must be willing to come out of the conventional reluctance and rigidity.
Wajahat Farooq Bhat is a youth activist and Chairman of J&K Save Youth Save Future Foundation. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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