The results of class10 and class 12 just announced by J&K Board of School Education (J&K BOSE) have shown that youth of Jammu & Kashmir tend to aspire for lucrative careers in the streams of medicine and engineering instead of begging for engagements as casual workers, consolidated workers, contractual appointments and daily wagers in government departments and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). The attitudinal and behavioural change among youth marking a shift in pursuit of their livelihoods is by all standards of understandabilities a blow to the daily wage culture the seeds of which were sown by heads of several popular governments of erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state including the likes of Late Sheik Mohammad Abdullah, Farooq Abdullah, Late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed , Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti. While late Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah during his six year rule in Jammu & Kashmir from 1977-83 introduced daily wage culture in almost all the government departments in Jammu & Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah during his rule of six years from 1996-2002 introduced the culture of contractual and consolidated appointments in several Government Departments. Likes of Farooq Abdullah, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Gh Nabi Azad, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti introduced schemes like Rehbar-e-Taleem, Rehbar-e-Zirat, Rehbar-e-Khel and Rehbar-e-Janglat just to exploit highly qualified job hunters for their regularisation in government departments for years together. So the recruitment of youth under the said employment schemes was virtually the implementation of a bond labour system of employment for decades together as the youth provided jobs on low wages under these schemes had to launch protests and processions for years together for their regularisation after completion of mandatory five years of engagement.
Since the growing spirit of competition among youth has also resulted in an unprecedented rise in the no of qualifiers for All India Services including Civil Services (IAS, IPS, IFS and allied services), Indian Forest Services and Indian Economic Services, it is time for mainstream leaders to stop exploitation of youth in the name of employment for votes and focus on some other issues concerning welfare of the people and upgradation of basic social services to the optimum level. Had the successive popular governments of erstwhile J&K induced the spirit of competition in both the education and recruitment system the people of J&K would have an influential representation in almost all the All India Services and most of the key policy making institutions of the country.
Ironically completion of five years service was declared mandatory for regularisation under the said scheme in Jammu & Kashmir. Exploitation for regularisation by the successive popular governments of erstwhile J&K state was one of the bigger causes of youth disenchantment in Jammu & Kashmir and the rising spirit of keen competition in both academic examinations and entrance tests for entry into lucrative careers in the streams of medicines and engineering show that the chapters of bonded of labour system of employment and daily wage culture in government departments are likely to end in coming few years. Growing tendency among youth to perform better in academic examinations and entrance tests for entry into lucrative careers in the streams of medicine and engineering is by all standards of understandabilities a good omen for the future of coming generations. Since the growing spirit of competition among youth has also resulted in an unprecedented rise in the no of qualifiers for All India Services including Civil Services (IAS, IPS, IFS and allied services), Indian Forest Services and Indian Economic Services, it is time for mainstream leaders to stop exploitation of youth in the name of employment for votes and focus on some other issues concerning welfare of the people and upgradation of basic social services to the optimum level. Had the successive popular governments of erstwhile J&K induced the spirit of competition in both the education and recruitment system the people of J&K would have an influential representation in almost all the All India Services and most of the key policy making institutions of the country.
