PDP unhappy with Centre’s job scheme, says it has alienated locals

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has picked holes in the Centre’s ambitious skill and job training programme, Udaan, for educated, unemployed youth in Jammu and Kashmir.

The party, which runs a coalition government with the BJP in the state, has complained that the scheme piloted by the Union ministry of home affairs does not integrate local business or address local needs.

Even as efforts to increase the reach of the scheme are underway, the PDP has sounded out the Centre that it has failed to involve local industry — as a consequence of which, there are no spill-over benefits to the local economy. It has also pointed out that the scheme focuses on training the youth to make them employable instead of making them entrepreneurs.

“The scheme does not connect with the aspirations of the youth. To begin with, most Kashmiri youngsters don’t want jobs outside the state. They also have reservations about the kind of jobs being offered. By offering them low-paid jobs in unfamiliar areas, the scheme has alienated the youth,” PDP’s spokesperson Waheed Para said.

The PDP leadership, which will soon convey its reservations about the scheme to the Centre formally, has suggested offering financial aid to trainees to start their own businesses or creating jobs within the state in sectors such as horticulture, arts, crafts and tourism.

For the programme that it runs in J and K, the PDP wants the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) — an enterprise formed by the Centre in partnership with the corporate sector — to integrate local industry with Udaan.