Take concrete steps to address unemployment, drug menace in J&K: Ch Ramzan to Centre

New Delhi, Feb 12: Senior National Conference leader and MP Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan on Thursday raised concerns in the Rajya Sabha over rising unemployment and increasing drug abuse in Jammu and Kashmir, urging the Centre to outline concrete steps to tackle the twin challenges.
Raising a supplementary during Question Hour in the Parliament, Choudhary, said the unemployment rate in J&K was nearly double the national average and had been increasing steadily over the past few years.
Citing figures, he said that while the national unemployment rate hovered around 3.2 to 3.5 per cent in recent years, the rate in J&K stood at 4.4 per cent in 2022-23, rose to 6.1 per cent in 2023-24 and further to 6.7 per cent in 2025.
“The national average remains largely stable, but J&K’s unemployment rate has almost doubled and continues to rise every year,” he said, seeking to know whether the government had any concrete proposals to curb the trend.
The MP said over 3.57 lakh educated youth in J&K were unemployed, including 2.34 lakh men and 1.27 lakh women. Of them, around 66,000 were graduates and 47,000 postgraduates, while over 15,000 held professional degrees and more than 10,000 had diplomas.
He asked whether the government was considering enhanced recruitment in the armed forces, police, railways, public sector undertakings or private sector initiatives to address unemployment in the Union Territory.
Linking joblessness to social concerns, Choudhary also flagged the issue of drug abuse in the region. He claimed that around 13.5 lakh people in J&K were affected by drug addiction, including a significant number of youth.
He said large quantities of narcotics had been seized in recent years and expressed concern over increasing substance abuse among young people. “What steps are being taken to stop this alarming trend?” he asked.
Responding to the query, the minister concerned said the government was implementing various schemes to integrate youth from J&K into the national mainstream through skill development and employment generation programmes.
He said that under formal employment measures, around 1.6 lakh people from J&K had been brought under the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) network in the past two years.
He also referred to registrations under the Pradhan Mantri Vikas Bharat Rojgar Yojana and other central schemes aimed at boosting job opportunities and skill training.
He said both the Centre and the J&K administration were working to expand employment avenues and address social challenges, including drug abuse, through coordinated efforts. (KNO)