New Delhi: While the unemployment rate in rest of India is about 8%, the rate between age group of 15-29 years in Jammu and Kashmir is 18.3%, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
He said nearly 30,000 vacancies were filled in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
Rai said the government of Jammu and Kashmir has carried out several governance reforms, including in the area of recruitment.
“After abrogation of Article 370, large-scale recruitment drive has been carried out and the government of Jammu and Kashmir has filled 29,295 vacancies. Recruiting agencies have advertised 7,924 vacancies and examinations in respect of 2,504 vacancies have been conducted,” he said in response to a written question.
The minister said the identification of vacancies in the government and recruitment is a continuous and ongoing process and taken up under an accelerated recruitment drive.
According to him, the government of Jammu and Kashmir has taken various initiatives to bring down unemployment by implementing various self employment schemes through different departments. These include providing subsidised loans for the establishment of sustainable income generation units.
From the results of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), estimates of unemployment rate are not available specifically for educated youth in Jammu and Kashmir for the period April-June 2021, he said.
However, the minister said, from the PLFS conducted during July 2020-June 2021, the estimate of unemployment rate among those in the 15-29 age group for Jammu and Kashmir was 18.3 per cent.
