SrinagarWith unemployment touching new scales in Jammu and Kashmir, where around six lakh youth are jobless and are just waiting for government jobs, it has turned into a good opportunity for the non-locals to creep into the other modes of employment in Kashmir.
In and around Lal Chowk- the commercial hub of Kashmir valley, where on daily basis the business worth crores are being done; one finds every third person who owns a stall a non-local, who have come from different parts of India.
While the non-local laborers had already taken the jobs of carpenters, painters and other related skills from the Kashmiris, some left out things like shop-keeping and other stall owners are slowly being taken over by the non- Kashmiris.
The trend puts a question mark if government job is the only thing a Kashmiri youth needs to generate his income.
At Sarai-Bala, which houses the Dastageer Sahab shrine and remains flooded with people, almost every stall owner selling different day-to-day items are non-locals.
Would you imagine, a non-local vendor who sells (pea and peanuts), said he earns between 2 to 2.5 lakh in winter season-which spans six months.
I pay in advance a payment of Rs 1.5 lakhs to the person who provides peanuts. If you dont pay the amount early you would not get the stock on time. I am satisfied with the job, said a peanut seller, Saleem from UP.
Unemployment occurs when people are without work and actively seeking work.
Though, the government under various schemes and flagship programs provide entrepreneurship opportunities to the local youth, most of these programs ended up in failure.
Muhammad Shafi, an industrialist, says government has been very slow in tapping some of the productive employment generating sectors such as commercial floriculture, fisheries, forest, horticulture and agriculture based industries.
Tourism players say youth or the new comers are apprehensive to invest in this sector as tourism is universally known as a peace time activity. Peace in Kashmir is very fragile, they say. (KNS)
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