NEW DELHI: Despite claims of increased development and economic prosperity by the central government in the Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir after reading down of Article 370 four years back, Ladakh has registered sharpest rise in the number of unemployed graduates in India between 2021-22 and 2022-23.
This was disclosed in response to a question in the Parliament on Monday, December 18, 2023. There was a jump of over 16 percent in a year in respect of Ladakh, which was made a Union Territory from the erstwhile state of J&K over four years back. At least 26.5 percent graduates were unemployed in Ladakh during the past two financial years.
In reply to a question by Samajwadi Party MP Javed Ali, if joblessness among graduate youths had increased, the central government replied in the negative. Citing reports, Ali also asked if 42% Indian graduates under the age of 25 were unemployed in 2021-22. The labour ministry, however, did not respond to the question.
(Sajjad Kargili, one of the members of the High Powered Committee (HPC) headed by the Union Minister of State for Home, has demanded setting up of Public Service Commission (PSC) for Ladakh so that recruitment of local residents for gazetted officers is conducted at the earliest. He said that since the carving out of Ladakh as a Union Territory, no recruitment has been done by the government.
He also posted an appeal in a video on his X handle on two major issues of unemployment and air connection to Ladakh region including air connectivity to Kargil, which remain cut off during winters due to closure of road communication from Srinagar (J&K) and Manali (Himachal Pradesh).
#Ladakh | Employment Crisis, Demand of Air connectivity for Kargil.
A local handle on Ladakhism has posted on the X (Formerly Twitter, “Saddened to witness the Mass Unemployment among our (eligible) youth. Given the region with meagre opportunities, the concerned authorities must do the needful at the earliest possible to address this burning issue. Setting up of PSC must be prioritised.”
“Save Youth, Save Future!” the post on X said.)
“As per the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), conducted by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, the lowest unemployment rate among graduates aged 15 years and above witnessed in Chandigarh at 5.6%, which was followed by Delhi with 5.7% during 2022-23,” the ministry said.
The data supplied by the ministry showed the highest unemployment in Andaman and Nicobar Island at 33%, followed by Ladakh (26.5%) and Andhra Pradesh at 24%.
Apart from the hill territory, unemployment among graduates also rose in Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Meghalaya, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan during the period between 2021-22 and 2022-23, the central government said.
“As per the latest available annual PLFS reports, the estimated Unemployment Rate (UR) on usual status for graduate persons of age 15 years and above was 14.9% and 13.4% during 2021-22 and 2022-23, respectively, which shows a declining trend in unemployment rate for graduate persons,” the ministry said.
The marginal improvement in all-India figures in 2022-23, the PLFS report suggested, is attributable to an improvement in the employment situation in some states and UTs, including Lakshadweep, Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Goa, Manipur and Mizoram, where the employment status of graduates appears to have improved in 2023, as compared to the previous year.
The number of unemployed graduates also reduced in Bihar, from 20% to 16.6% in 2022-23, in Haryana from 18.4% in 2021-22 to 12.6% in 2022-23, and in Karnataka, where the number of unemployed graduates in 2022-23 accounted for 9.4% of the state’s population, down from 12.5% in the previous year.
Uttar Pradesh, with 11.3% unemployed graduates in 2021-22, registered a marginal improvement in the following year with the number settling at 11%, while J&K, with 22.8% unemployed graduates in 2021-22 saw a 4.5% drop in 2022-23.
A persistent concern raised by several MPs in and outside Parliament, the issue of unemployment was most recently raised by opposition leaders, including Congress’ Rahul Gandhi after the Parliament security breach in which the two intruders who jumped into Lok Sabha chamber later claimed that they were trying to draw attention to the lack of jobs in the country.
Among larger states, the unemployment rate was high in Rajasthan at 23.1% and in Odisha at 21.9%. Joblessness or unemployment rate is defined as the percentage of unemployed persons in the labour force. The NSSO had launched the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) in April 2017.
The reference period here is from July 2022 to June 2023. Earlier, five annual reports have been brought out on the basis of the data collected in PLFS during July 2017-June 2018, July 2018-June 2019, July 2019-June 2020, July 2020-June 2021 and July 2021-June 2022.
Now, the NSSO has released the sixth annual report on the basis of the Periodic Labour Force Survey conducted during July 2022-June 2023.
“The field work for the collection of information in respect of the samples, allotted for the period of July 2022-June 2023, was completed timely for the first visit as well as revisit samples, except for 51 first visit and 68 revisit FSUs for the state of Manipur, allotted in the last quarter, April-June 2023, which were treated as casualties, due to disturbed field situation and unavailability of internet services,” the report said.
The PLFS report in October 2021 said that Ladakh registered the highest unemployment rate of 21.6 percent among all states and UTs in India.
According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) figures, J&K had a 21.6 percent unemployment rate in 2020-21, which is the worst among states/Union Territories in India.
The unemployment rates are produced by CMIE using its Consumer Pyramids Household Survey machinery. CMIE has pegged India’s unemployment rate at 6.9 percent which means J&K has much higher unemployment rate than the national average.
According to the CMIE data, the unemployment rate in J&K had jumped from over 13 percent in August 2021 to 21.6 percent in September. As per the official data, J&K is the only region in India which had over 20 percent unemployment rate.
Other states, which follow J&K in terms of the highest unemployment, are Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Tripura where unemployment rate is above 15 percent.
Besides these official figures, there are other data sources which indicate the severity of unemployment in J&K. For example, the employment registration carried out by the Directorate of Employment last year witnessed 3 lakh registrations by post graduates and PHD degree holders.
Few months back, J&K Service Selection Board advertisement for 8000 class IV posts saw a whopping 5.4 lakh aspirants applying in 2021.
“Problem in Kashmir is compounded by the fact that the private sector in the region is yet to realize its full potential. The main source of employment here is government sector which is over stretched to the extent that you have around 1 lakh youth working as daily rated workers in government departments and are seeking regularization of their services,” a senior official was quoting as saying in 2021, adding that “for past two years tourism sector of J&K too is dull due to the situation post August 5, 2019.”
According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI), the combined unemployment rate of J&K and Ladakh hit the highest 17.8 percent in October-December of 2020, against the national average of 7.11 percent.
Around 48,908 unemployed youth registered with the J&K Department of Employment up to June 2021, which included 21,205 post-graduates. The government departments remain the highest employers in the UT of J&K in the absence of a flourishing industrial sector as well as the corporate sector.
However, Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha had claimed in September-October 2021 that he was expecting creation of five lakh jobs as the UT was all set to get Rs 25,000-30,000 Cr of private investment. The figures stood at over Rs 60,000 Crores, as per his statement, during the G20 functions organized to showcase J&K’s potential for investments in different sector in the second half of 2023.
So far as Ladakh is concerned, the UT administration has been claiming to have progress in terms investments and developments in various sectors. But the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Ladakh has been minimal till date despite the central government’s claims that there are excellent opportunities for investments. The Ladakh portal advertises a lot for attracting investments.
But the figures provided by India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) did not paint a very rosy picture of the Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in J&K since the reading down of Article 370 in August 2019. Between October 2019 and March 2023, the comulative FDI inflow into J&K UT was valued at meagre US$07 million (Rs 58 Crore only at the present exchange rate).
The IBEF presentation on Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) says that it is a Union Territory (UT) of India, located in the country’s northern part, and a global tourist destination. In addition to traditional recreational tourism, a vast scope exists for adventure, pilgrimage, spiritual, and health tourism.
The presentation notes that the economy is primarily services based and agri-oriented. At current prices, the GSDP of J&K has been estimated at Rs. 2.31 trillion (US$ 27.95 billion) in 2023-24. The UT’s GSDP increased at a CAGR of 8.84% between 2018-19 and 2023-24.
A vast natural resource base has enabled J&K to develop land for cultivating major fruits. With varied agro-climatic conditions, the scope for horticulture is significantly high in J&K. Food processing and agro-based industries (excluding conventional grinding and extraction units) thrive in the UT. J&K has an ideal climate for floriculture and an enormous assortment of flora and fauna. J&K has Asia’s largest tulip garden.
J&K’s handicrafts are world famous and the traditional handicraft industry has emerged as a large industry. Due to its large employment base and export potential, the industry has been receiving priority attention of the government. The UT is also famous for its small-scale and cottage industries such as carpet weaving, silks, shawls, basketry, pottery, copper and silverware, papier-mâché, and walnut wood. The cottage handicrafts industry provides direct and gainful employment to around 340,000 artisans.
As of April 30, 2023, J&K had a total installed power-generation capacity of 3,516.07 MW, comprising 1,866.08 MW under central utilities, 1,543.17 MW (state utilities) and 106.82 MW (private utilities).
Total exports from J&K stood at US$ 89.77 million in FY 2022-23 (until August 2022).
Some of the major initiatives taken by the Government to promote Jammu & Kashmir as an investment destination in real estate, industries, food processing, mineral and tourism.
According to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), cumulative FDI inflow in J&K was valued at US$07 million between October 2019-March 2023.
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