Unemployment rate down by 0.6% in past five years, minister tells House

The unemployment rate in Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed a slight decline from 6.7 per cent in 2019-20 to 6.1 per cent in 2023-24.

However, the unemployment rate has increased from 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 when it was 5.9, 5.2 and 4.4 per cent, respectively.

Providing figures in the Assembly on Saturday, the government said the unemployment rate had not increased drastically in Jammu and Kashmir since 2019.

“The statistics indicate an overall decrease in the rate of unemployment from 6.7 per cent in 2019-20 to 6.1 per cent in 2023-24. This improvement is also reflected in the labour force participation rate (LFPR) and the worker population ratio (WPR), which have risen to 64.3 per cent and 60.4 per cent, respectively, in 2023-24, showcasing enhanced employment opportunities and economic activities in J&K. The steady decline in the unemployment rate together with the increase in the LFPR and the WPR reflects the success of targeted policies and initiatives aimed at boosting the labour market to sustain economic growth, further reduce unemployment and elevate the overall quality of life of citizens,” a reply by the government stated.

Minister for Agriculture Production Javed Ahmad Dar informed the House on a query by MLA Mubarak Gull that 11,526 selections had been made by the JKPSC and the JKSSB while 45,688 private employment avenues had been generated in the industrial sector during the past two financial years. Besides, under the MGNREGA, 3.01 crore person days had been generated up to January 2025, which provided employment to 8.07 lakh households.

Dar said a total of 9.58 lakh self-employment opportunities had been generated through schemes such as Mumkin, Tejaswani, the PMEGP and the REGP up to January 2025 in the past four years in J&K. The minister was replying to the question on behalf of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

The minister said the Jammu and Kashmir Government had initiated Mission YUVA for self-employment and entrepreneurship to identify, support and empower five lakh identified potential entrepreneurs through a structured and tech-enabled approach. He said the key goals of the initiative were to create over 1,37,000 new enterprises across sectors and generate more than 4,25,000 employment opportunities over five years.

The minister said during the past four years, 246 job fairs were conducted in which 4,893 placements were made by 2,760 companies and 6,640 candidates were recommended for skill training.

The minister said in order to address the unemployment issue, the government had taken several initiatives, including upgrade of government industrial training institutes through the public private partnership mode, skill strengthening for industrial value enhancement, establishment of the CIIIT at Government Polytechnic, Jammu, and Government Polytechnic, Baramulla, in collaboration with Tata Technologies.