Avinash Azad
In a shocking display of arrogance and disregard for democratic accountability, the Jammu and Kashmir government has brushed aside a question raised by BJP MLA Dr. Bharat Bhushan in the ongoing winter session of the J&K Legislative Assembly at Srinagar — regarding the alarming number of unemployed medical, dental, engineering, and paramedical professionals across the Union Territory.
Instead of providing a detailed reply with figures and a clear employment roadmap, the government bluntly told the elected representative that “the sought information is available online.”
If an elected representative is not being respected by the government, one can easily understand what the common people must be facing. The question had sought the total number of unemployed Medical, Dental, Engineering postgraduates, and those who have passed paramedical courses like GNM, MPHW, etc.
However, the government, in what many legislators described as a “rude and bureaucratic” response, merely stated that the information “is available on the portal (www.jakemp.nic.in) created by the Jammu and Kashmir Employment Department and integrated with the National Career Service (NCS) portal of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India.”
While washing its hands off the issue, the government further attempted to dilute the seriousness of the matter by adding that registration on the portal is voluntary and not mandatory.
Still, the reply went on to mention that as per available data:
- 555 Medical postgraduates,
- 252 Dental postgraduates, and
- 9,416 Engineering postgraduates
have registered themselves as unemployed on the said portal.
Observers and opposition leaders have slammed the response as “insensitive and evasive,” pointing out that the government conveniently avoided sharing consolidated data on thousands of unemployed paramedical graduates, GNM and MPHW pass-outs — many of whom have been waiting for jobs for years.
In response to another question by Dr. Bharat Bhushan regarding “steps being taken to provide employment to the aforesaid educated youth through fast-track recruitment drives,” the government yet again offered a vague and non-committal reply. It merely stated that “the government is in the process to refer vacant posts to recruiting agencies.”
This ambiguous statement has only added to the growing frustration among unemployed youth, who accuse the administration of indulging in rhetoric rather than action.
With rising unemployment among highly qualified professionals — particularly doctors, engineers, and paramedics — the government’s evasive attitude inside the Assembly has drawn widespread criticism from across political lines.
When even MLAs are treated with bureaucratic arrogance, it exposes how disconnected this administration has become from ground realities and the plight of Jammu and Kashmir’s educated unemployed.
