Irshad Mushtaq
Did you know that many Kashmiri youth are not short of intelligence, but short of exposure, skill-training and earning confidence? A child born in a wealthy family may inherit property, business, networks and financial safety. A child born in an ordinary family may inherit only education, hope and the sacrifices of parents. But that does not mean the second child is weak. It only means his journey needs more discipline, more skill and more courage.
In many Kashmiri homes, one fear is silently repeated: “Rich children already have everything. Our children have nothing. How will they compete?” This fear is emotional, but it is also practical. Kashmir’s economy has opportunities, but it also has limitations. The real question is not whether our youth have degrees. The real question is whether our youth can convert education into income, responsibility and value.
The Official Reality Kashmir Must Face
Jammu and Kashmir’s employment pressure is not imaginary. A PIB reply based on PLFS data reported J&K’s unemployment rate at 6.7% in 2019-20 and 5.9% in 2020-21 (PIB). Another PIB reply stated that unemployment among persons aged 15-29 years in J&K was 18.3% during July 2020-June 2021, showing that youth unemployment has been much sharper than general unemployment (PIB).
This means young people cannot depend only on waiting. They need preparation, practical skills, and multiple income paths.
A government job is respectable, but it cannot be the only dream of every educated child. The J&K HRMS portal shows more than 3.70 lakh registered government employees, which proves that public employment already has a large presence in the Union Territory (J&K HRMS).
The honest message is clear: government jobs are important, but every future cannot be built on one chair.
Kashmir Has Resources, But We Need New Thinking
Kashmir is not poor in resources. We have orchards, land, tourism, crafts, agriculture, food products, services, education and digital possibilities. The issue is that many educated youth do not see these resources as modern opportunities. They see them as old family work.
Official HADP material says more than 70% of J&K’s population is directly or indirectly engaged in agriculture and allied occupations for livelihood (HADP J&K).
The same official document shows agriculture and allied sectors contributing about ₹37,559 crore, or 18.40% of SGDP, while horticulture contributes about ₹15,413 crore, or 7.30% of SGDP (HADP J&K).
These are not small numbers. They are signals. If a family has an apple orchard, walnut trees, saffron land, a shop, a craft skill or a small business, the educated child should not reject it. He should upgrade it.
An MBA should improve family business systems. An engineering graduate should understand machinery, storage, irrigation and technology. A commerce student should understand profit, cash flow, stock, billing and cost control. Education should not create distance from family work. Education should improve family work.
The Degree Trap
Many young people believe that after an MBA, B.Tech, M.Tech or PhD, they must get a white-collar job only. They imagine a table, chair, office, car and fixed salary. This dream is not wrong, but depending only on this dream is dangerous.
A degree gives identity, but skill gives earning power. A degree gives confidence, but experience gives survival. A degree may help in interviews, but discipline helps in life. If a young person studies for years but cannot manage time, talk to people, handle money, understand work, use technology, or solve problems, then the degree remains incomplete.
Kashmir’s youth must understand one thing: the world pays for value, not only for certificates.
Home Is the First Training Centre
The biggest training centre is not always college. It is home. If a child never cleans his own cup, never helps parents, never visits the orchard, never sits in the family shop, never observes customers, never understands bills and never learns how money enters and leaves a home, then how will he become responsible at 21 or 25?
Parents often say, “I worked hard, so my child should not work hard.” This comes from love, but if misunderstood, it creates weakness. Children should not be burdened, but they must be trained. They should learn small responsibilities, time value, money value and respect for labour.
A rich child often gets business training automatically at home. He hears business discussions. He sees money decisions. He sees risk-taking. He sees how property, networks and capital work. A middle-class or poor child must create this training consciously through family involvement, skill-building and financial literacy.
The Agriculture Opportunity Is Bigger Than We Think
Kashmir’s youth must stop seeing agriculture and horticulture as backward.
Modern agriculture is not only ploughing land. It is soil testing, branding, grading, packaging, cold storage, digital selling, food processing, logistics and direct market access.
The HADP programme has a total budgetary requirement of about ₹5,012.74 crore for 2022-23 to 2027-28 (HADP J&K). Official HADP projections include ₹28,142 crore annual addition to SGDP, 2.88 lakh additional jobs, 18,861 new enterprises, and training of more than 2 lakh persons in agri-skills (HADP J&K).
These figures should change the mindset of our youth.
The future is not only in offices. It is also in high-density orchards, floriculture, dairy, food processing, packaging, tourism services, local brands and digital platforms.
If one young person uses technology to improve an orchard, he is not doing “small work.” He is building enterprise. If one educated girl creates a local food brand, she is not doing “ordinary work.” She is creating income. If one student learns digital marketing and helps ten local businesses, he is not waiting for employment. He is creating employment.
Technology Can Reduce the Rich-Poor Gap
Earlier, rich families had more access to knowledge. Today, a mobile phone can give a Kashmiri student access to global learning. The same phone can teach accounting, coding, English speaking, farming methods, investment basics, communication, design, marketing and entrepreneurship.
But the same phone can also destroy focus through reels, gossip and useless scrolling. The difference is not the device. The difference is discipline.
A poor student with discipline can use free knowledge better than a rich student with distraction.
A middle-class child can build skills from online courses. A village student can learn market rates, packaging methods and business ideas. A young person in Kashmir can serve clients outside Kashmir through digital work.
This is why skills are the new inheritance.
Solutions for Kashmir’s Youth
Build one earning skill with your degree. Every student should learn at least one practical skill such as digital marketing, bookkeeping, sales, communication, coding, design, repair work, food processing, farming technology or financial literacy.
Respect family assets. If your family has land, orchard, shop, craft skills, animals, tools or customer relationships, do not ignore them. Study them and improve them.
Do not depend on one exam. Prepare for government jobs if you want, but keep Plan B and Plan C ready. Waiting without skill is not preparation.
Learn money early. Understand saving, budgeting, debt, inflation, risk, and regulated investment options. Rich children often learn money at home. Other children must learn it deliberately.
Use technology for growth. Reduce useless screen time and use your phone for learning, research, selling, networking and skill-building.
Parents must train, not only protect. Give children small responsibilities. Let them understand work, respect labour and see how money is earned.
Schools and colleges must teach life skills. Entrepreneurship, dignity of labour, financial literacy and communication should be treated as serious subjects, not only motivational speeches.
Conclusion
Kashmir’s youth are not born without ability. They are born into a difficult race, but not an impossible race. A rich child may inherit property, but a disciplined child can build property. A rich child may inherit networks, but a skilled child can create networks. A rich child may inherit capital, but a hardworking child can create capital over time.
The official data tells us that unemployment pressure is real, agriculture is central to Kashmir’s economy, and new programmes are trying to create jobs and enterprises. But no government programme can replace personal discipline. No degree can replace skill. No dream can replace work.
The message to Kashmir’s youth is simple: you may be born without wealth, but you are not born without wings.
Your wings are education, skill, courage, technology, family values, savings and hard work. Do not wait for someone to give you a future. Build it. Do not feel ashamed of your orchard, shop, land or family work. Upgrade it. Do not waste your youth only chasing a chair. Create value, create income, and create dignity.
You cannot choose where you were born. But you can choose how far you rise.