Empowering youth cornerstone of our development agenda: NC
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Monday asserted the corner stone of the development programme of the party was to empower the youth of state.
The party said that it will prioritize implementing gender neutral, youth focused policies and programs once coming into power.
Addressing a Women’s wing convention at party head quarters on Monday NC’s State Women’s Wing President and ex MLA Habbakadal, Shameema Firdous said that the past few years had seen “abject lack of initiatives by the government towards emancipation of the youth”.
“Youth policy is cross-sectorial that involves effective investment in a number of different areas such as employment, education, leisure. Besides that the need of the hour is to give wings to the aspirations of youth by providing them safe and secure environment to peruse their vocation. This unfortunately was not on the agenda of the previous BJP-PDP led government,” she said.
She said the youth comprising of both boys and girls had suffered immensely “due to the maladministration of the former PDP-BJP government”.
“However it is the increased electoral participation of youth that would bring new solutions to pervasive problems and bring amends to the wrongs committed by former BJP-PDP regime,” Firdous added.
She asked the party functionaries to “enthusiastically promote the party programme”.
The young woman functionaries will have to play a pivotal part in mobilizing the youth of state, she said adding, “We have a capable, sincere leadership and a legacy of service and sacrifice to bank on”.
The people of state especially the youth, Firdous said, “have pinned high hopes” on Omar Abdullah.
“It is our duty to strengthen the efforts of Omar Sahib. By the grace of God and with the active participation of youth we will be able to push the youth of state to safer shores,” she added.
Firdous said that the young girls of the state were beset with depression as were their male counterparts.
“The failure of the governor administration to create jobs in state has added to the rising woes of our youth including girls. The severe unemployment is a ticking time bomb that warrants immediate attention of the forth coming civilian government,” she said.
The NC leader said that during the successive governments of the National Conference, “providing safe spaces to youth has been the core of our governance policy”.
“Dr Farooq Abdullah led government had provided a number of jobs to the youth in his stint as chief minister. His government had adjusted 75000 youth in police department only”.
Firdous said that “lakhs of youth were adjusted through various skill development and employment programmes in the Omar Abdullah led government”.
“Schemes like SKEWPY and seed capital fund had revolutionized the creation of jobs for youth. Besides that lakhs of youth were given jobs through various recruiting agencies in the state,” she added.
She however said that “whatever good was achieved by the former NC government was put into a chasm by former BJP-PDP government”.
“Never has the state witnessed such nepotism, cronyism, and corruption as was rife in the former PDP-BJP government. The fateful coalition didn’t leave any stone unturned to push the educated youth to wall by robbing their merit. The controversies associated with various recruiting agencies and the slack functioning of the recruiting agencies has also been a hallmark of the former PDP-BJP government,” she said.
She urged the incumbent governor to rejuvenate the youth friendly SKEWPY, UDAAN, Himayat schemes of the former Omar Abdullah led government.
KV News
