Srinagar, 27 February:(KNS)  The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference President and Member of Parliament from Srinagar Dr. Farooq Abdullah on Sunday said that the youth bulge of Jammu and Kashmir is staring at shrinking employability, brewing insecurity and lost opportunities. 

 

This he said while addressing a public meeting in Srinagar earlier today. Interacting with the people on the occasion, Dr Farooq said, “I think the only real asset the country has is its human resource, particularly it's educated and skilled youth. If we are to survive, the government needs to allocate its resources for job creation. Unfortunately the incumbent administration is sitting on its hands and doing nothing to address the scathing and widespread unemployment in Jammu and Kashmir. The people of J&K have suffered from a far deeper setback from pandemic than the people of other regions, states and UTs; primarily because of the absence of any popular and representative government and secondarily because of the political and economic instability induced by the ill-conceived decisions of New Delhi from time to time,” he said. 

 

On the Ukraine-Russia standoff, Dr Farooq said that both the countries should return to the path of negotiations adding that the government must ensure that every Indian citizen in Ukraine is brought back safely to the country. Both the involved parties should address each other's concerns, he said, adding that the country might face a far more difficult situation in the months ahead, given global uncertainty, than it might have expected after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic begins to wane. 

 

“It is for the central government to anticipate the long and short term implications of the ongoing standoff in Europe and take fitting measures to minimise it's fallout on the Indian economy. Since the world today is far more globalised, the impact will apparently be more acute. I'm hopeful the Union government will do everything possible to insulate the country from such adverse implications,” he said. 

 

Earlier Dr Farooq Abdullah visited Sonwar to condole and sympathise with the bereaved household of Late Muhammad Yousuf Bakshi Sahib, who had breathed his last a couple of days ago. On the occasion, he shared in the grief of bereaved family members and offered Fatiha for the departed soul.(KNS)