PM forms expert group on jobs in Kashmir

NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday admitted that the benefits of the government’s economic package for Jammu and Kashmir were “not fully felt” in the state and proposed a panel of experts to formulate a job plan for the troubled state that has some 300,000 unemployed youth.

“I recognise that the benefits of the large economic reconstruction package for Jammu and Kashmir have not been fully felt on the ground,” Manmohan Singh, addressing an all-party delegation from the state.

At the meeting held at the Panchvati conference centre adjoining his residence, Manmohan Singh said the government “will quicken the pace of the implementation (of reconstruction plans) in cooperation with the state government”. The main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Mehbooba Mufti boycotted the meeting.

He said the government would set up an expert group headed by renowned economist and former governor of the Reserve Bank of India C. Rangarajan “to formulate a jobs plan for the state, involving both the public and the private sectors”.

The other members of the panel, the prime minister said, include Infosys head N.R. Narayana Murthy, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) chief mentor Tarun Das, president of the Federation Chamber of Industries in Kashmir Shakeel Qalander and P. Nanda Kumar.

The group will also have an official representative of the Jammu and Kashmir government.

“To increase employability in the state, the group will interact with the National Skill Development Mission and submit its report within three months,” Manmohan Singh said.

Unemployment has been one of the major worries of the government in the state which has not been able to attract any major private sector investment because of the troubled history of the so far 20-year-old separatist insurgency.