Kashmir youth Maqsood Ahmed Ganai gasped as 3 women came out of the car door. He called out, 'Come madam, please come, drink the fresh apple juice from Kashmir.'
The three women from the Indian state of Maharashtra were mainly going to the Pehelgam valley. The valley of Indian-controlled Kashmir is the center of tourist attraction. On the way they took a break at an area called Hugam.
Maqsud Ahmed Ganai is a resident of Hugam area, which is 29 km from Pehelgam. He left home at 7am every day and opened the juice shop on the roadside. Tourists taking a break on the journey are a blessing to him. Because he runs the family with the income of this shop. In addition to his mother and wife, he has a 6-year-old son.
The sad thing is that Maqsood is no less qualified than the tourists who hope to sit on the side of the road all day and earn some money by drinking juice. Because he is a Ph.D. He is standing on the side of the road for income without getting a job according to his qualifications.
According to a report of Al-Jazeera in this regard, economic depression is evident in Kashmir at present. Because many educated youth are struggling to find jobs there. However, New Delhi established direct control over the region in 2019, promising prosperity. Earlier this state was autonomous.
To illustrate the current situation in Kashmir, the report cites the plight of 38-year-old Maqsood Ahmed Ganai, a PhD in Botany. Despite having a decade of experience as a temporary teacher, he has not been able to secure a job in the last five years despite running around a lot. The situation in Ganai reflects a wider crisis in Kashmir, where the unemployment rate has risen to 18.3 percent. The state's unemployment rate is twice the national rate of India.
It has been seen that the situation worsened after Kashmir's autonomy was revoked with the promise of prosperity. Amid the changing economic situation, more than 1 million youths have become unemployed in the state. As a result, people like Ganai are trying to survive by selling fruit juice. In this condition, he often feels embarrassed when his students walk in front of his shop.
Numerous other educated Kashmiris like Ganai face similar challenges. Ganai's wife Rubia is also struggling to find work with her master's degree. With the establishment of direct control by the Indian government, many jobs in Kashmir are now open to people from other parts of India. In this, the local youth seeking jobs in Kashmir are becoming more marginalized. In addition, political instability and chronic violence have compounded these economic difficulties. As if all the way out of this reality is closed!
