SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir Government told the Legislative Assembly that the Union territory’s unemployment rate stands at 6.7 per cent, well above the national average of 3.5 per cent, and a baseline survey underlined the scale of the challenge: 4.73 lakh people aged 18 to 50 reported they were not working but were willing to take up work, officials said.
The figures were supplied in reply to a starred question by the Employment Department. The department cited the Periodic Labour Force Survey as the source for the headline unemployment numbers and said an extensive baseline survey carried out in January 2025 under Mission YUVA identified the 4.73 lakh figure from a group of about 64.8 lakh individuals in the same age cohort. Jammu and Kashmir
The government pointed to Mission YUVA as the principal instrument to tackle joblessness, saying more than 171,000 youth had registered on the programme and roughly 70,000 formal enterprise applications had been received. Detailed project reports were prepared for about 52,875 applicants and 47,816 proposals were vetted and endorsed at district level, the reply said. Mission YUVA
Of those, 16,141 applications have completed the full appraisal cycle and secured bank sanctions totalling nearly Rs 1,000 crore, with more than Rs 700 crore already disbursed, the Assembly papers show. The Employment Department described a further pipeline of applications: about 15,000 cases were at an advanced stage with banks and expected to be sanctioned by March 31, 2026, while an estimated 22,000 creditworthy proposals were awaiting progressive sanction over the following months.
The reply also disclosed weaknesses in the credit channel. Banks returned about 9,500 applications, officials said, citing objective eligibility failures such as adverse credit histories, existing liabilities, duplication of applications within the same family and gaps in documentation. The department said Small Business Development Units and district officials were working to correct documentation and resubmit cases.
Officials emphasised that bank appraisal is independent and conducted under Reserve Bank of India norms, including checks on CIBIL score and repayment capacity, and that Mission YUVA is designed as an entrepreneurship and credit facilitation programme rather than a subsidy vehicle. Reserve Bank of India
The government listed training and capacity building as part of the response: 7,339 entrepreneurs had completed training and a further 5,000 were undergoing courses, while the Mission introduced a Nano Enterprise model targeted at ventures requiring about Rs 500,000 to Rs 600,000 of investment. The Employment Department described targeted support for first generation entrepreneurs, women from self help groups and youth in remote and border areas.
Officials framed the programme as a move from policy to delivery. They said nearly Rs 700 crore disbursed and thousands of sanctioned enterprises demonstrate that Mission YUVA has created a growing entrepreneurship ecosystem. At the same time, the baseline survey and the volumes of pending and returned bank applications underscore the scale of the task, officials acknowledged.
The Assembly papers set out the government’s roadmap for employment generation and said the Employment Department has formulated a policy and operational plan to reduce unemployment in a phased, time bound manner. The reply reiterated that Mission YUVA’s multi stage checks aim to protect public resources by ensuring only financially viable and sustainable enterprises receive bank finance.
