This is in response to Sheikh Sofia’s “Youth Unemployment in Kashmir” (GK, 15th September, 2025), wherein she tried to show the “mismatch between education and job market needs”. The points she emphasized, the data she highlighted, and the arguments she put forth are both eye-opening and shocking. The unemployment rate in J&K, especially in Kashmir valley, is at an alarming percentage (17.4%), far higher than the national average of 10 %. “The (unemployment) rate for women in cities”, she further states, “is even higher at 28.6 percent”. “The issue of youth joblessness in Kashmir”, put forth by Sofia as a key argument, “is a mix of education, ambition, and economic policy”. This writeup, in this context, is an elaboration of her arguments and viewpoints.

A Crisis of Educated Youth: Every year, thousands of educated young men and women graduate from universities. In Kashmir, yet many end up adding their names to the swelling list of the unemployed. Expressing their frustration, an Economics postgraduate, said: “I have applied for over 30 government jobs, but nothing........

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