CMIE survey found 21% unemployment in Jan, but only 10.6% in June

SRINAGAR: Finally, the employment avenues have begun to get better in Jammu and Kashmir with the easing down of the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. This is indicated in the unemployment rate which has declined since January this year when it was more than 20 percent.

A survey done by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), which has India’s largest database on the financial performance of companies, has found that JK had a 10.6 percent unemployment rate in June, which is half of what the CMIE found in January this year.

The unemployment rate of 21.9 percent in January fell to 14.2 in February, 11.4 in April, and 12.1 percent in May in J&K, it reported.

The CMIE has used Consumer Pyramids Household Survey Machinery tool to come to the figures. According to this, India’s national unemployment average is 9.2 percent, less than Jammu and Kashmir’s.

By the government’s own figures, there are more than three lakh unemployed educated youth in JK. The region’s high unemployment is seen largely due to the repeated lockdowns since 2019. It has made the economy suffer lose more than Rs 50,000 crore since August 2019, as per the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry figures, causing business units to shut down, or squeeze their business activity, leading to layoffs.

Post the 2019 lockdown, as per KCCI, more than five lakh jobs were lost in Kashmir region only, due to the shut economy.

A glimpse of the state of affairs can be seen in the number of aspirants who applied for the post of some 8,000 Class IV jobs. It was reported that over 5 lakh applied, of whom only 9,652 were shortlisted.

The recruitment agency for the Class IV jobs has sought an affidavit from the candidates that their qualification is not higher than Class 12th.

“Where shall we go,” said Mannan, one of the aggrieved aspirants who has been dropped for being overqualified. “We don’t have avenues to find jobs. We can’t start our startups because of the difficult working conditions. Our family conditions too do not allow us to move out. What are we supposed to do now?”

Junaid Nabi Bazaz