Jammu, Feb 11: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday said the unemployment rate in the union territory stands at 6.7 per cent, significantly higher than the national average of 3.5 per cent.
The data was shared in the Legislative Assembly in a written reply by the Labour and Employment Department to a question from People’s Democratic Party leader and MLA Budgam Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi.
According to the government, a survey conducted in January 2025 under ‘Mission YUVA’ found that out of 64.8 lakh individuals surveyed in the 18-60 years age group, 4.73 lakh people reported they were “not working but willing to work”.
Of these, 2.94 lakh were from the Kashmir division and 1.79 lakh from the Jammu division, the reply stated as per Kashmir Convener.
Detailing the educational profile, it said the largest group among the unemployed are higher secondary passouts (1.26 lakh), followed by graduates (98,466) and post graduates (70,428).
Highlighting its flagship ‘Mission YUVA’ entrepreneurship scheme, the government said over 1.71 lakh youth have registered on the platform, leading to around 70,000 formal enterprise applications.
It said bank sanctions of nearly Rs 1,000 crore have been approved for 16,141 applicants, with over Rs 700 crore already disbursed.
The government, however, stated the gap between administrative approval and bank sanctions. While 47,816 applications were approved at the district level, banks have so far sanctioned only 16,141.
Around 9,500 applications were returned by banks due to factors like adverse credit history or documentation gaps, the reply said, adding that another 22,000 applications are “assessed to be credit-worthy” and expected to be cleared over the next 3-4 months.
To a query on whether an independent audit was conducted to assess the “debt-to-income” ratio of youth who took loans under such schemes, the government replied in the negative. “No such audit stands conducted by the Directorate General of Audit & Inspections,” it said.
The government further said in the reply that Mission YUVA has received applications from 95 per cent of J&K’s panchayats.
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