Kashmir’s Youth Must Stop Waiting for Jobs and Start Building the Future
Imtiyaz R. Chashti
There is no shortage of talent in Kashmir. The Valley’s young generation is intelligent, ambitious, hardworking and capable of competing with the best anywhere in the country and, increasingly, in the world. What Kashmir needs today is not a new generation of talented young people; it already has one. What it needs is a change in the way that talent is directed.
For decades, a government job has remained the most desired destination for an educated Kashmiri. That aspiration is understandable. A government job offers stability, social respect and financial security. But the reality is that government employment can absorb only a limited number of people, while the number of educated young men and women entering the job market continues to grow.
This is where Kashmir’s young generation needs to think differently.
The question should no longer be only, “Where is the job?” It should increasingly be, “What can I build?”
This does not mean abandoning the pursuit of government employment. Rather, it means recognising that a government job is only one of many possible paths to a successful life. Entrepreneurship, skilled trades, tourism, commerce, technology, professional services, agriculture, handicrafts and new digital businesses offer opportunities that were either unavailable or difficult to access for earlier generations.
Importantly, the policy environment is also changing.
The Jammu and Kashmir Government has launched Mission YUVA, with the objective of creating an enterprise-driven economy and encouraging first-generation entrepreneurs. The programme envisages the creation of a large number of enterprises and employment opportunities over the coming years. It represents a significant shift from simply supporting employment to encouraging young people to become employment creators.
The J&K Skill Development Mission is another important component of this transition. Its programmes cover areas ranging from IT and electronics to tourism, hospitality, logistics, retail, construction and other trades. Its current dashboard records more than 15,000 candidates trained, over 10,500 certified and more than 3,300 placed. The Mission is also introducing emerging skills, including Artificial Intelligence, reflecting the changing nature of the employment market.
At the national level, young Kashmiris can also benefit from initiatives such as MUDRA, PMEGP, PM Vishwakarma, PMKVY and Startup India, which provide different forms of training, credit, entrepreneurship support and market opportunities.
The problem, therefore, is not simply the absence of schemes. It is whether young people are sufficiently aware of them and whether they are prepared to use them seriously.
A government loan cannot create a successful entrepreneur by itself. A subsidy cannot guarantee a profitable business. A training certificate does not automatically create employment.
What turns an opportunity into a livelihood is the ability to identify a market, understand a customer’s needs, manage money, maintain quality and remain committed when the first attempt fails.
This is where Kashmir needs a cultural shift.
Our young people must begin looking at their traditional strengths through a modern economic lens. Kashmir possesses enormous potential in handicrafts, carpets, horticulture, food processing, tourism, transport, hospitality and professional services. These sectors should no longer be viewed merely as traditional occupations. They can become modern, technology-driven businesses.
A young artisan should not remain only a producer. He or she can become a designer, brand owner and online seller.
A horticulture graduate can move beyond cultivation into processing, packaging, cold-chain management and agricultural marketing.
A young person with knowledge of tourism can build a travel company, manage homestays, develop specialised tourism packages or create a transport service.
A commerce graduate can build an accounting, taxation or digital-marketing practice.
An engineering graduate can develop software or technology services for clients outside Kashmir.
The digital economy has changed perhaps the most important limitation Kashmir’s young people once faced: geography.
A talented young person sitting in Srinagar, Baramulla, Anantnag, Pulwama or Kupwara can now potentially provide services to a customer in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Dubai, London or New York. A Kashmiri business no longer has to depend entirely upon Kashmiri consumers.
That should encourage our young people to think beyond the Valley.
The next economic opportunity for Kashmir may not necessarily be another large factory. It could be hundreds or thousands of small businesses providing specialised products and services to markets across India and abroad.
This also means that education must change.
A degree remains valuable, but a degree without a practical skill is increasingly insufficient. A commerce graduate who understands accounting software, taxation, digital marketing and e-commerce has a wider range of opportunities than someone who possesses only a certificate. An arts graduate who develops communication, content creation, tourism or digital skills can work for clients anywhere. An engineering graduate can become an entrepreneur instead of spending years preparing exclusively for competitive examinations.
The question facing students should therefore change from “Which degree will get me a job?” to “Which skills will make me useful to the market?”
Women must be equally central to this transformation. Kashmir cannot build a modern economy while a large section of its educated young women remains outside entrepreneurship and professional activity. Schemes such as Tejaswini provide a platform for women to pursue self-employment, but the larger objective must be to encourage women to become business owners, professionals and employers.
Technology has already reduced many of the barriers. A woman can operate a home-based enterprise, market products through digital platforms and reach customers far beyond her locality.
But government also has a responsibility.
Young entrepreneurs should not have to navigate a maze of departments simply to understand how to register a business, obtain finance or access a government scheme. District-level enterprise support should be strengthened so that a young person with a genuine idea can receive guidance on registration, training, finance, taxation, marketing and market access in one place.
Banks also need to understand that entrepreneurship cannot flourish if every young applicant is treated as a potential defaulter. Financial discipline is essential, but so is institutional confidence in genuine first-generation entrepreneurs.
At the same time, young people must understand that entrepreneurship is not an easy shortcut to wealth. It requires patience, financial discipline, risk-taking and the willingness to fail and start again.
This is perhaps the most important lesson for Kashmir’s youth.
A government job can provide employment to one person. A successful enterprise can create employment for an entire family, village or community.
That is the mindset Kashmir needs.
The Government can provide schemes. Banks can provide credit. Institutions can provide training. Technology can provide access to markets. But ambition, discipline, innovation and persistence must come from the young entrepreneur.
Kashmir’s future therefore cannot be measured only by the number of government vacancies announced every year. It must also be measured by the number of enterprises created, the number of businesses that survive and grow, and the number of jobs generated by young Kashmiris themselves.
The Valley’s young people have the intelligence. They have the talent. They have the energy. They have demonstrated repeatedly that they can excel when given the opportunity.
What they now need is the confidence to look beyond the traditional definition of success.
The real question before Kashmir’s youth is no longer simply, “Who will give me a job?”
It is:
“What can I build?”
And, ultimately:
“How many people can I take forward with me?”
Kashmir does not need a generation that waits for the future to arrive. It needs a generation confident enough, skilled enough and courageous enough to build that future itself.
Imtiyaz R. Chashti
There is no shortage of talent in Kashmir. The Valley’s young generation is intelligent, ambitious, hardworking and capable of competing with the best anywhere in the country and, increasingly, in the world. What Kashmir needs today is not a new generation of talented young people; it already has one. What it needs is a change in the way that talent is directed.
For decades, a government job has remained the most desired destination for an educated Kashmiri. That aspiration is understandable. A government job offers stability, social respect and financial security. But the reality is that government employment can absorb only a limited number of people, while the number of educated young men and women entering the job market continues to grow.
This is where Kashmir’s young generation needs to think differently.
The question should no longer be only, “Where is the job?” It should increasingly be, “What can I build?”
This does not mean abandoning the pursuit of government employment. Rather, it means recognising that a government job is only one of many possible paths to a successful life. Entrepreneurship, skilled trades, tourism, commerce, technology, professional services, agriculture, handicrafts and new digital businesses offer opportunities that were either unavailable or difficult to access for earlier generations.
Importantly, the policy environment is also changing.
The Jammu and Kashmir Government has launched Mission YUVA, with the objective of creating an enterprise-driven economy and encouraging first-generation entrepreneurs. The programme envisages the creation of a large number of enterprises and employment opportunities over the coming years. It represents a significant shift from simply supporting employment to encouraging young people to become employment creators.
The J&K Skill Development Mission is another important component of this transition. Its programmes cover areas ranging from IT and electronics to tourism, hospitality, logistics, retail, construction and other trades. Its current dashboard records more than 15,000 candidates trained, over 10,500 certified and more than 3,300 placed. The Mission is also introducing emerging skills, including Artificial Intelligence, reflecting the changing nature of the employment market.
At the national level, young Kashmiris can also benefit from initiatives such as MUDRA, PMEGP, PM Vishwakarma, PMKVY and Startup India, which provide different forms of training, credit, entrepreneurship support and market opportunities.
The problem, therefore, is not simply the absence of schemes. It is whether young people are sufficiently aware of them and whether they are prepared to use them seriously.
A government loan cannot create a successful entrepreneur by itself. A subsidy cannot guarantee a profitable business. A training certificate does not automatically create employment.
What turns an opportunity into a livelihood is the ability to identify a market, understand a customer’s needs, manage money, maintain quality and remain committed when the first attempt fails.
This is where Kashmir needs a cultural shift.
Our young people must begin looking at their traditional strengths through a modern economic lens. Kashmir possesses enormous potential in handicrafts, carpets, horticulture, food processing, tourism, transport, hospitality and professional services. These sectors should no longer be viewed merely as traditional occupations. They can become modern, technology-driven businesses.
A young artisan should not remain only a producer. He or she can become a designer, brand owner and online seller.
A horticulture graduate can move beyond cultivation into processing, packaging, cold-chain management and agricultural marketing.
A young person with knowledge of tourism can build a travel company, manage homestays, develop specialised tourism packages or create a transport service.
A commerce graduate can build an accounting, taxation or digital-marketing practice.
An engineering graduate can develop software or technology services for clients outside Kashmir.
The digital economy has changed perhaps the most important limitation Kashmir’s young people once faced: geography.
A talented young person sitting in Srinagar, Baramulla, Anantnag, Pulwama or Kupwara can now potentially provide services to a customer in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Dubai, London or New York. A Kashmiri business no longer has to depend entirely upon Kashmiri consumers.
That should encourage our young people to think beyond the Valley.
The next economic opportunity for Kashmir may not necessarily be another large factory. It could be hundreds or thousands of small businesses providing specialised products and services to markets across India and abroad.
This also means that education must change.
A degree remains valuable, but a degree without a practical skill is increasingly insufficient. A commerce graduate who understands accounting software, taxation, digital marketing and e-commerce has a wider range of opportunities than someone who possesses only a certificate. An arts graduate who develops communication, content creation, tourism or digital skills can work for clients anywhere. An engineering graduate can become an entrepreneur instead of spending years preparing exclusively for competitive examinations.
The question facing students should therefore change from “Which degree will get me a job?” to “Which skills will make me useful to the market?”
Women must be equally central to this transformation. Kashmir cannot build a modern economy while a large section of its educated young women remains outside entrepreneurship and professional activity. Schemes such as Tejaswini provide a platform for women to pursue self-employment, but the larger objective must be to encourage women to become business owners, professionals and employers.
Technology has already reduced many of the barriers. A woman can operate a home-based enterprise, market products through digital platforms and reach customers far beyond her locality.
But government also has a responsibility.
Young entrepreneurs should not have to navigate a maze of departments simply to understand how to register a business, obtain finance or access a government scheme. District-level enterprise support should be strengthened so that a young person with a genuine idea can receive guidance on registration, training, finance, taxation, marketing and market access in one place.
Banks also need to understand that entrepreneurship cannot flourish if every young applicant is treated as a potential defaulter. Financial discipline is essential, but so is institutional confidence in genuine first-generation entrepreneurs.
At the same time, young people must understand that entrepreneurship is not an easy shortcut to wealth. It requires patience, financial discipline, risk-taking and the willingness to fail and start again.
This is perhaps the most important lesson for Kashmir’s youth.
A government job can provide employment to one person. A successful enterprise can create employment for an entire family, village or community.
That is the mindset Kashmir needs.
The Government can provide schemes. Banks can provide credit. Institutions can provide training. Technology can provide access to markets. But ambition, discipline, innovation and persistence must come from the young entrepreneur.
Kashmir’s future therefore cannot be measured only by the number of government vacancies announced every year. It must also be measured by the number of enterprises created, the number of businesses that survive and grow, and the number of jobs generated by young Kashmiris themselves.
The Valley’s young people have the intelligence. They have the talent. They have the energy. They have demonstrated repeatedly that they can excel when given the opportunity.
What they now need is the confidence to look beyond the traditional definition of success.
The real question before Kashmir’s youth is no longer simply, “Who will give me a job?”
It is:
“What can I build?”
And, ultimately:
“How many people can I take forward with me?”
Kashmir does not need a generation that waits for the future to arrive. It needs a generation confident enough, skilled enough and courageous enough to build that future itself.