Jobless resort to drugs to avoid anxiety
A total of 33,694 vacancies, gazetted and non-gazetted both, are lying vacant in various state departments since 2007, he said, adding these posts have been referred to PSC and Service Selection and Recruitment Board.
UNEMPLOYMENT IS growing at an alarming rate in Kashmir which poses a serious challenge to the state government. Unemployment has rendered stress in youth and many resort to drugs to overcome stress. The upsetting findings have surfaced in Srinagar, Budgam and Pulwama districts of the valley. According to some statistics available 29 per cent of the unemployed youth (male) smoke cigarettes in order to reduce anxiety and tension and many others resort to drugs.
The findings further revealed 14 percent of Kashmiri youth are toying with the idea of committing suicide and 11 percent resort to drugs to ease stress. “The reason for this is that cigarettes are cheap, easily available and smoking is not considered as a stringent social taboo," the findings said.
It has been further established that around 12 per cent of the respondents, which includes females take sleeping pills to overcome stress. Two per cent of the respondents admitted that they resort to drinking alcohol in an effort to relieve their anxiety, whereas another two per cent take anti-cough syrups because of the alcohol contents in them.
63 percent of the interviewees revealed that joblessness affects them in every way mentally, socially, psychologically and physically. Official sources maintain that the figure of unemployed and highly educated youth is more as high as those who have registered with the employment exchange.
Over 45,000 professionals, including 2,772 doctors and 5,999 engineers are unemployed in Jammu and Kashmir, the state government statistics reveal.
“A total of 44,262 professionals, including 2,772 doctors, 5,999 engineers and 19,172 technocrats are unemployed,” Labour and employment minister Abdul Gani Malik said in a written reply in the Legislative Assembly recently.
The minister said there are 1,522 doctors, 3,125 engineers, 10,621 technocrats and 10,598 skilled youth who were unemployed in 12 districts of Kashmir division. In the ten districts of Jammu region, the number of unemployed doctors’ stand at 1250, engineers 2874, technocrats 8551 and other skilled workers at 6723, Malik said.
A total of 33,694 vacancies, gazetted and non-gazetted both, are lying vacant in various state departments since 2007, he said, adding these posts have been referred to PSC and Service Selection and Recruitment Board.
The state government has also launched Sher-i-Kashmir Employment Welfare Programme for Youth (SKEWPY) last year to provide job opportunities to educated unemployed youth in addition to various existing schemes, but that too did not meet the hopes of unemployed youth.
"There is an increasing tendency among unemployed youth to get involved in anti-social and illegal activities. Most of the unemployed interviewees said they were dependent on family members for their expenses,” the report revealed.
Mental health is a big concern in Kashmir. Over two decades conflict between insurgents and armed forces has pushed up stress levels and put people under increasing strain. A dejected jobless post graduate youth has this to say, “What should I do? I don't find any opportunity where I can earn to meet my expenses” said Wasim of Baramulla.
“Despite promises, government has failed to deal with the growing unemployment," he laments.
Like Wasim, hundreds of unemployed youth in valley are finding it difficult to even find a meager source of income to fulfill their daily needs.
As unemployment coupled with unfulfilled economic needs and cherished dreams, take hundred of youth in a deep sea of frustration, drugs; smoke and anti-social thinking followed by wrong doings is luring despaired youth towards it at faster pace.
This negative trend is seen more in rural areas than in urban areas. "Rural educated youth have many avenues, which they can exploit for the establishment of their own employment generating units," said an expert.
Although many youth, after completing their college education find a place in the private schools to earn mere peanuts from there. But the meagre salary offered by the private educational institutions to them, is a sheer exploitation of theirs. This adds to their uneasiness, instability and frustration.
The government introduced schemes like Rehbar-e-Taleem, Rehbar-e-Ziyarat to overcome the problem of unemployment, but these policies, providing temporary jobs in teaching and agriculture sector to the educated youth, have also come under sharp criticism. Those employed under these schemes say that such schemes are nothing but a joke and exploitation of the educated youth.
Despite the fact that state government is aware of how unsuccessful Rehbar scheme has been it is planning to appoint Rehbar in other departments also, rued the unemployed youth.
Finding no other alternative, even engineering graduates, diploma holders and ITI diploma holders are seeking absorption in government jobs under Rehber-e-Tamiraat and Rehbar-e-Bijli schemes.
Unemployment has caused frustration among the youth, which is forcing them into many illegal trades, experts opine. It has forced them to indulge in anti-social activities.
"When a young man is not engaged with any work, or he is not satisfied with what he is doing, he becomes prey to many social evils and addict of smoking, drugs etc," said, a senior psychologist.
There is a general feeling that enhanced support from union government may help address the unemployment crises in the state.
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