Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai on Wednesday said that over 29,000 vacancies were filled in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.

In a writing reply to a question, Rai, said the government of Jammu and Kashmir has carried out several governance reforms, including in the area of recruitment.

“After abrogation of Article 370, large scale recruitment drive has been carried out and the government of Jammu and Kashmir has filled 29,295 vacancies. Recruiting agencies have advertised 7,924 vacancies and examinations in respect of 2,504 vacancies have been conducted,” he said, adding that the identification of vacancies in the government and recruitment is a continuous and ongoing process and taken up under an accelerated recruitment drive.

He also said that the government of Jammu and Kashmir has taken various initiatives to bring down unemployment by implementing various self employment schemes through different departments, which include providing subsidised loans for the establishment of sustainable income generation units.

“From the results of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), estimates of unemployment rate are not available specifically for educated youth in Jammu and Kashmir for the period April-June 2021,” the minster said, adding from the PLFS conducted during July 2020-June 2021, estimate of unemployment rate among those in the 15-29 age group for J&K was 18.3 per cent.

He added that two candidates of Civil Terrorist Victims from J&K have been allocated MBBS seats from the Central Pool in 2022-23 and that there is no provision of fund and scholarship for such candidate.