by Ruhail Maqbool Sheikh
The plight of contractual youth cannot be separated from the wider crisis of unemployment in Jammu and Kashmir. Both are bound together. Educated young people either wait endlessly for a chance or accept insecure positions as a means of survival.
Youth are often seen as the engine of progress. They embody energy, innovation, and resilience. Yet in places such as Jammu and Kashmir, thousands of young people, whether employed on short-term contracts or still searching for their first job, live with uncertainty and disappointment. Their struggle is both personal and shared, shaping the future of an entire generation.
Jammu and Kashmir records one of the highest unemployment rates among educated youth in the country. The region produces graduates, postgraduates, and skilled professionals in large numbers, yet the job market cannot absorb them into stable careers. Alongside this crisis is another reality: young people who do find work are often confined to short-term contracts. This contradiction leaves one section unemployed and another technically employed but underpaid, insecure, and excluded. Both reveal structural gaps that deny dignity and recognition to educated youth.
The Weight of Daily Challenges
For thousands of young men and women, years of preparation for competitive exams, countless job applications, and repeated interviews end with no offer of secure employment. The shortage of opportunities pushes many into frustration, isolation, and migration in search of work elsewhere.
Those who secure jobs usually do so on a contractual basis, living in a cycle of renewal and uncertainty. Each passing term brings the same fear: the possibility of losing the little stability they have.
Economic hardship deepens the struggle. Unemployed youth find it difficult to support their families or pursue further studies. Contractual employees, meanwhile, receive wages that fall far below those of their permanent counterparts. Both groups lack the means to plan for marriage, a home, or the milestones that mark adulthood.
The social burden is equally severe. Families invest heavily in education with the expectation that it will secure a future. When that does not happen, disappointment spreads beyond the individual to entire households. Anxiety, pressure, and a sense of collective failure become constant companions.
My Story
I, Ruhail Maqbool Sheikh, stand as both an example of hope and a witness to hardship. For over thirteen years, I have worked as a contractual water quality analyst. I hold a Master’s in Environmental and Occupational Health, an MBA, a postgraduate qualification in analytical chemistry, and a diploma in advanced computer science, along with more than seventy professional certifications.
Despite this foundation, my employment remains contractual. I have been honoured by the Ministry of Jal Shakti as a Water Hero and Water Warrior of Kashmir. I have received two national awards and several local recognitions. My work has contributed directly to the monitoring of Dal Lake and other water bodies, protecting communities from health risks.
Yet these honours change nothing about my fragile position. Like thousands of others, whether unemployed or contractual, I live with the reality of a system that values contribution symbolically but not structurally.
The plight of contractual youth cannot be separated from the wider crisis of unemployment in Jammu and Kashmir. Both are bound together. Educated young people either wait endlessly for a chance or accept insecure positions as a means of survival.
This imbalance drives talent out of the region in search of opportunity elsewhere. It fuels frustration and alienation, eroding trust in institutions. Above all, it leaves education and skill untapped, potential wasted.
The Way Forward
The state must acknowledge the service of long-term contractual workers and consider them for permanent roles. Their years of work deserve recognition in policy as much as in ceremony.
Employment generation is essential. New industries, projects, and schemes must be launched to create real opportunities for educated youth. Pay and benefits must be equal for equal work, regardless of contractual or permanent status, and employees should receive the security of health insurance and pensions.
The skills of young people must be used for local development, research, and entrepreneurship. Their energy should not be left idle or forced into exile. Alongside this, mental health support is needed. Counselling, awareness, and community programmes can help young people cope with uncertainty and stress.
The struggles of unemployed and contractual youth in Jammu and Kashmir extend beyond employment alone. They concern dignity, recognition, and the right to build a stable life. Awards cannot replace security, and degrees should not lead to a lifetime of waiting.
My story is only one among many. If educated youth are left to live in uncertainty, the potential of an entire generation is endangered. Policies must turn insecurity into stability and transform unemployment into opportunity. A secure youth means a secure society. For Jammu and Kashmir, the future depends on how responsibly this challenge is addressed today.
(The writer is a contractual water quality analyst with over thirteen years of experience and more than seventy professional certifications. Recognised as a Water Hero and Water Warrior of Kashmir, he has received national and local awards for his work in safeguarding water quality and public health. Ideas are personal.)
