Farooq Tantray (CNI)

Srinagar, May 19, PDP president and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has come out strongly against the government’s decision to deploy 4,000 retired Army personnel to guard key installations in the Union Territory, calling it a missed opportunity to address the growing unemployment crisis among local youth.

In a letter addressed to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Mufti said while she deeply respects the contribution of ex-servicemen, assigning them to static guard duties—tasks that don’t require military combat experience—could have instead provided much-needed jobs to trained but unemployed youth in J&K.

“Such employment could serve as a crucial support system for our educated yet jobless youth,” she wrote. “Giving preference to pension-receiving ex-servicemen over local youth not only overlooks their hardship but also risks furthering their sense of exclusion.”

Mehbooba Mufti also cautioned that the move may appear to be a quick-fix approach to security issues that does little to advance long-term peace or social stability in the region. She argued that engaging local youth in such roles would not only boost employment but help restore trust and inclusion in public life.

Urging the administration to reconsider the policy or at least explain its rationale, Mufti advocated for a more inclusive approach that simultaneously addresses security concerns and the severe job crisis.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Mehbooba Mufti wrote: “Wrote to Omar Sahab urging him to reconsider his government’s decision to employ 4,000 ex-servicemen to guard key installations. While I hold the utmost respect and gratitude for our ex-servicemen, we mustn’t & cannot overlook the mounting crisis of unemployment afflicting youth in J&K whose numbers have now crossed into lakhs.”

She described the soaring unemployment as not merely an economic issue but a “social emergency,” noting that the lack of opportunities has pushed many young people into drug addiction and, in some tragic cases, suicide. “We must come to their rescue by being more mindful of their future,” she stressed. (CNI)