Unemployment explodes in IIOJK as 25,000 graduates yearly, only 13% in workforce
Srinagar: Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing exploding unemployment as 25,000 students graduate every year from colleges and universities, yet only 13% of them feature in the territory’s workforce.
According to Kashmir Media Service, data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey 2023-24 shows graduate representation in IIOJK’s workforce is abysmally low, while the overall unemployment rate stands at 6.7% — nearly double India’s 3.5% national average.
Officials said thousands complete postgraduate, professional and technical courses annually, but most degree holders remain unemployed, underemployed, or forced into jobs that do not require higher education.
Official records reveal nearly 31% of the territory’s registered unemployed are graduates and postgraduates. Experts attribute the crisis to limited industrialisation, a weak organised private sector that accounts for less than 3% of total employment, and a mismatch between qualifications and market needs.
Between 58-67% of workers in IIOJK are self-employed in agriculture, small retail and family-run enterprises due to scarcity of formal salaried jobs. The situation is direr for educated women. Unemployment among women aged 15-29 ranges between 46-53%, with urban female unemployment at 20-28% compared to just 4.6% for males.
Many remain confined to unpaid family work due to lack of opportunities. With over 77,000 gazetted and non-gazetted posts lying vacant in government departments, economists warn that without urgent industrial growth, private investment and skill-market alignment, the gap between rising educational attainment and job absorption will only widen further.
