Srinagar, 15 April : The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Friday expressed concern over skyrocketing inflation in Jammu and Kashmir, saying it is the poorest of poor, daily wagers and salaried class that are feeling the squeeze. The party also expressed deep concern for the rising unemployment in J&K saying that the predicaments suffered by J&K’s unemployed youth had taken an alarming turn.
Expressing concern over the peaking youth distress in Kashmir, Party Additional General Secretary Dr. Sheikh Mustafa Kamal on Friday said that the impending outreach focusing on Winning the J&K Youth’s Trust has added to the alienation levels of our educated and skilled and pushed them to the wall.
Meanwhile, expressing concern over the peaking inflation in Jammu and Kashmir, JKNC State Spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said the inflation rate had touched 7.59 percent in J&K which is even higher than the national inflation rate of 6.95 percent. “There is no breather for inhabitants of J&K. Our People continue to face inflationary pressure. It is anybody’s guess what people must be going through at this time when festivities are around. The soaring price rise has pinched the daily wagers, the most. People are finding it very difficult to make ends meet,” he said.
“Restoring confidence among our youth is a monumental task. There is no alternative to undertaking this gargantuan task other than making a sincere outreach to our youth by giving them a sense of enfranchisement. The absence of any outreach from New Delhi to our youth, and current paralysis in governance evidenced by the figures and data of Government’s own agencies. Government has failed to manage the growing youth bulge in J&K, Ladakh,” Mustafa Kamal said.
Kamal said that there is no restraint on the anti-youth policies of the ruling dispensation. “The rampant disillusionment among JK youth draws on many things which includes depleting job avenues, widespread unemployment, looming insecurity, and wanton discrimination. Our youth like their counterparts elsewhere in the world are bright. The only thing that sets them apart from their counterparts in the rest of the country and the world is the absence of safer spaces to pursue their vocation. Besides that, the insecurity in their own land remains a primary hurdle in the direction of their empowerment. Fate of our promising youth continues to hang in balance, with everyday top-down government notifications and diktats pushing them towards a tipping point,” he said.
The present scenario, Kamal said, only spells doom. “It is anyone’s guess what the future will hold for a region which is festering with 25% youth unemployment, development deficit, backsliding of democracy, misgovernance , and deteriorating horticulture, agriculture, handicraft, manufacturing sectors. There are layers to the problems in J&K. But the widespread alienation among youth is the major area of concern, which can only be addressed by a fully empowered, and popular government. I hope New Delhi lives up to its promises on bridging Dil Ki Doori. So far nothing substantial has been done to achieve that end,” he said.
NC State Spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar expresses concern over unemployment
“Constant price rise is hitting the common man where it hurts the most and the administration has failed to take meaningful steps to curb the trend. The political instability and governance deficit have already wreaked havoc on our people, particularly daily wagers, hawkers, labourers, middle, BPL and salaried classes and depleted their savings. The soaring prices of essential commodities in the face of salary cuts and job losses have dealt a double blow for the common man, especially those from the middle and lower-middle income groups and below poverty line (BPL) segments of society. Adding to the worries is the rising fuel prices of petrol breaching the Rs 100/litre-mark for the very first time and diesel creeping up, at over Rs 92 per litre in most places across the state. People are struggling to make ends meet,” he said.
He said the government was punishing people, particularly poor farmers, transporters, traders, daily wagers, hawkers, BPL, middle and salaried classes for its own incompetence.
