Srinagar: Despite completing the bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in Fisheries, hundreds of professionals here are without jobs as the Jammu and Kashmir Fisheries department has not called for any recruitments for almost two decades.
According to the passouts, barring a very few Non-Gazetted cadre positions of Fisheries Development Assistant and Deputy Inspector (Adv. 03 of 2017), Jammu and Kashmir Fisheries department has not notified bulk of vacancies/posts in the department for recruitment in the last two decades.
As per the students more than 300 students of Jammu and Kashmir have completed their B.F.Sc./M.F.Sc (graduation/post-graduation) course, with about 50 students graduating every year from SKUAST-Kashmir alone are facing a neglect with almost no employment opportunities offered at all by the Jammu and Kashmir Fisheries department.
As per the students hundreds of fisheries professionals from the Faculty of fisheries, (SKUAST-Kashmir) and other Central and State Agriculture Universities every year, but surprisingly the Department of Fisheries, Jammu and Kashmir offers nothing to the professional thusadding to the already large-scale unemployment in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir
” It is difficult to understand if the department cannot provide opportunities/jobs to the students of Fisheries of Jammu and Kashmir, what is the point of offering the courses of the subject matter in the well-established University of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir,” said Ubaid Qayoom, a scholar
The Bachelor of Fisheries Science (B.F.Sc) degree programme, is a 4 years ICAR recognized professional degree programme, offered by State and Central Agriculture Universities, is the highest level UG degree programme in the field of Fisheries, with no other equivalent offered anywhere in India.
Shahid Manzoor,another student of SKUAST said that the recruitment over the last decade, as per records, stands at the lowest when compared to fisheries departments of other states and union territories of the country.
‘This neglect weighs heavily on the life and career of fisheries accomplishers,” said Shahid Manzoor,another student of SKUAST
“In other cadres like Fisheries Development Officer (FDO), only 20% is from direct recruitment and 80% of promotions have been fixed as the method of selection,” said another scholar Asim Manzoor, calling it a massive injustice imposed on professional fisheries graduates/postgraduates.
Director of Fisheries department Mohammad Amin agreed with the issue, but said that it is up to the higher officials to carry forward any recruitment process.
He said our department has already approach the higher up and send a requisition for 100 gazetted post and 400 non gazetted posts but till now we have not witnessed any requirements,”
Adding that we too wants want fisheries professionals to gets appointed as they are well educated and we’ll qualified,”

NAZIMA SIDIQ