Fine Print On The Wall

The news of a recent recruitment rally conducted by the Armed Forces in the Ganderbal area of J&K that witnessed a huge response where around 9000 young men braved sleet and snow to appear for the test has evoked interesting reactions from the observers including on twitter ranging from the disinterested ones calling it a "No big deal" to the ecstatic. Whatever be our reactions, they obviously need jobs and the need to address this issue post haste can not be over emphasized. Much would depend upon how the govt reacts to it.


The obvious knee jerk reaction in such a scenario especially in disturbed areas in India has traditionally been to create more govt jobs or at least declare intentions of doing so and give an impression of doing ones best to solve the unemployment problem. IMO it's time we changed our approach to solving this problem. Here are some alternatives to consider if not done already:


Ignite entrepreneurial spirit in the state and help them create jobs by themselves. Create special economic zones wherever possible, like Jammu to begin with, make available micro finance to them, give them tax breaks. With time big ticket investments would follow. Facilitate their participation in trade fairs across the world and help create a demand for their produce. Make permanent exhibition grounds for them in Delhi and Mumbai to make it convenient for big ticket buyers. Build container terminals and tune their logistics with global practice.
Start the damn railway up to wherever possible and reduce their logistics cost to help them remain competitive even in faraway markets. Use the railway for purely logistics if safety is a concern.


And finally implement all of these in all the states!


(Picture courtesy Washington Post)