J&K YOUTH & POLITICS
By: Syed Danish Showkat
Unemployment in India, especially in Jammu and Kashmir, is rising at a rapid pace. According to Economic Survey Report, unemployment rate in the state of Jammu and Kashmir is at a staggering 24.6 percent which is far higher than all India unemployment rate of 13.2 percent. While there are numerous reasons for this whopping percentage of unemployment, the idea of the educated youth of valley to qualify competitive exam and nothing else also adds to it.
In the absence of a thriving private sector, it is only the government sector that is absorbing youth to overcome unemployment. But the government sector has its own limitations and other nuances that are far more severe to treat than thought over. The political systems, if one tries to analyze, have been deliberately creating scenarios of desperation among the populations and job creation, which is the duty of a welfare state, seems like a distant dream. But to make it a reality the youth will have to get into the system and write their destiny themselves. It is a principle of seeking what is rightfully yours by means available and as is said that “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself”, youth will have to, sooner or later, take a decision whether they chose of life of deprivation and marginality or a life full of conscious choices and equal opportunities.
If educated youth join politics, the whole system can be transformed positively and there is no other way. So, firstly the need is to create general awareness among educated youth about how they can change the system by joining politics. Also if IAS/KAS qualifiers of our state who are icons to the youth join politics, then chances are that the present political hollowness will get reduced and the youth may consider politics as career. Another advantage of IAS/KAS qualifiers joining politics is that they know politics very well as they serve under politicians, often illiterate and dumb!
Politics, it is said, cannot and will not be avoided and every individual has to take political decisions at some point in time. So, instead of being objects of someone else’s fancy, why not to attempt an overhaul of the whole system by being into it?
The problem with the youth is that we opt for an easy track when we castigate the government, politicians, systems, bureaucracy etc and refrain from our own responsibilities. Isn’t it the duty of the educated youth to question various standards and try fixing up what is incorrect? Haven’t we (educated youth) been privileged by having received an education and if so, what are our responsibilities to a society that needs us to take an active part in deciding the destiny of those who are unprivileged apart from deciding our own?
The writer is a science post graduate from Kashmir University
