Engaging the youth
During the post covid-19 pandemic various challenges have emerged for the people and the governments alike. One such challenge is the lack of availability of jobs for the able bodied people.
Post covid era has thrown up the challenge of making skilled labour available for various sectors. The demand for skilled labour has been witnessing an upswing especially in sectors like healthcare, services and manufacturing.
Skilled labour forms the backbone of various developing economies in the world. The skilled labour not only contributes in the growth of the nation but also increases employment avenues for others. However, in a place like Kashmir which is known for higher number of unemployment rates, lack of skilled hands is making things worse.
Youth with their respective skills in varied trades including electricians, welding, plumbing, bricklaying, cookery and other related trades have a bright future if they put their skills to good use. The skilled manpower could not only address the unemployment issue here, by creating their own jobs, but their skills could greatly address the ‘supply and demand issue’ of the region as well.
The youth in Jammu and Kashmir need to think out of the box as the demand for skilled labour has phenomenally increased across the world in the last few decades. Such is the relevance of skilled labour in countries like Australia and Canada that they are even offering permanent residency to people with skills that are in their demand list.
We in Kashmir are witnessing an imported labour phenomenon as most of the technical jobs that are to be carried out here are done by people who have come from other regions.
The need of the hour is that all the stakeholders including academic institutes, especially ITIs and Polytechnics, corporate sector, and government institutes need to come together in creating a skilled man force in the Union Territory. The move can help in bringing down the unemployment rate in the UT and ensure that new jobs are also created.
As per the Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India (GOI), Jammu and Kashmir has very high unemployment rate. As per a survey conducted Jammu and Kashmir has 72 unemployed persons per thousand, which means the number of unemployed youth in the UT numbers in lakhs.
The number can rise further as over the years the exact number of unemployed educated youth in JK was not known. The union government also revealed that nearly 40 percent youth, in the age group of 15 to 30 years, are unemployed in Jammu and Kashmir and that the number was higher than the national level.
Unemployment of the younger members in our society is a major challenge, and to tide over the crisis only ensuring development of skilled labour can prove to be a viable option.
This will also end the anxiety among the youth who feel disheartened for sitting idle at home and not being able to contribute to the growth and development of their native place.
Such idle youth can also fall into wrong hands and can make the situation even more complex.
KV Network
