SRINAGAR: Official data tabled in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly reveals that out of 473,936 individuals identified as “not working but willing to work” under Mission YUVA, 126,059 possess higher secondary qualifications, 98,466 are graduates, and 70,428 are postgraduates, underscoring the scale of educated unemployment in the Union Territory. The data records 24,594 illiterate individuals among those surveyed.
The qualification-wise breakdown reveals further lists 95,914 individuals with secondary education, 44,908 with middle-level schooling, 10,994 with primary education, 1,745 below primary and 828 categorised as “literate with formal education”.
The figures form part of a baseline survey conducted in January 2025 by the Employment Department in collaboration with district administrations under Mission YUVA. According to the reply, 64.8 lakh individuals in the 18–60 age group were surveyed across Jammu and Kashmir, of whom 4.73 lakh reported that they were not working but willing to work.
Division-wise data cited in the Assembly shows that 1.79 lakh such individuals belong to Jammu Division, while 2.94 lakh are from Kashmir Division.
The government informed the House that the overall unemployment rate in Jammu and Kashmir stands at 6.7 per cent, higher than the national average of 3.5 per cent as per the Periodic Labour Force Survey 2023–24 for the 15–59 age group.
Detailing employment-generation measures, the reply stated that Mission YUVA has registered over 171,000 youth and received around 70,000 formal enterprise applications. Of these, detailed project reports were prepared for nearly 52,875 applicants, and 47,816 applications were examined and approved at the district level.
As per the statement, 16,741 applications have secured bank sanctions. The government said sanctions amount to nearly Rs 1,000 crore, while over Rs 700 crore has been disbursed. The reply also noted that approximately 9,500 applications were returned by banks due to eligibility issues, including adverse credit history, existing liabilities or documentation gaps.
Of the remaining 37,000 applications pending with banks, around 15,000 are stated to be at an advanced stage and expected to be sanctioned by March 31, 2026, while about 22,000 are assessed as credit-worthy and likely to be processed over the next three to four months.
The government further informed the Assembly that no independent audit has been conducted by the Directorate General of Audit and Inspections to assess the debt-to-income ratio of youth
