The economic survey 2011-2012 has been an eye-opener on many counts. But the finding that has startled many is that one in five people in the state lives below poverty line. A state where people are perceived to be relatively well-off – albeit without a self-sustaining local economy – the fact that around 24.21 lakh people are below poverty line has starkly underlined the cheerless economic scenario in the state.  What makes the finding important is that the poverty per se has hardly been a part of the political discourse in the state. This raises some pertinent questions about the economy in JK as a whole. And these are the questions that aren’t asked more frequently. That is, why is it that JK continues to reel economically over the past six decades. And what is the future direction that the state is taking. The economic figures that are before us paint a bleak picture. We have more than six lakh youth who are registered as unemployed with the employment department. And there are more who are not registered. Complicating this problem is that most of these youth have little chance of landing a decent employment. The government sector which has for far too long been the only source of employment for the youth in the state is losing the capacity for recruiting more youth. The government’s new job policy brings this fact home. The policy is designed to render the government job less attractive to the educated youth. The new recruits will get a paltry remuneration for the first five years, much like on the pattern of Rehbar-i-Taleem. On the other hand, the private sector in the state is more or less non-existent, more so in Valley where it exists in the form of small scale industries which pay atrociously low salaries to whatever small number of people they employ. This calls for a profound rethink on the part of the policy-planners. If employment scenario in the government remains as gloomy as it is now, and the private sector fails to provide alternative careers, this will not only further shrink the possibilities of our youth but in coming years push more families below poverty line.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 4 Mar 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 4 Mar 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 5 Mar 2012 00:00:00 IST