Sajad Lone Taunts NC, Says Manifesto Pledge Of One Lakh Jobs Needs 222 Years

Srinagar: People’s Conference President and Handwara MLA Sajad Lone on Monday said that, National Conference government would need 222 years to fulfil its promise of creating one lakh jobs, citing official recruitment data to underline what he described as a massive gap between manifesto pledges and delivery. 

Lone said the government had managed to create only 899 jobs against the commitment of 100,000.  

“At this rate, it will take them 222 years to deliver. The bigger joke is on those who believed this promise,” he said after the assembly adjournment. Turning to vacancies, Lone aid that the NC had promised to fill all posts within 180 days of assuming power. Assembly records show only 7,580 vacancies filled in two years, while 40,672 remain unoccupied.

He broke down the figures: 24,427 non-gazetted posts, 3,318 gazetted posts, and 12,927 multi-tasking staff positions, “At this pace, it will take more than a decade to fill them,” he said.

He further accused the government of reneging on its pledge to waive application fees for job aspirants.

“Instead of relief, crores were collected in fees. This is a contradiction between promise and practice,” Lone charged, recalling his earlier assembly query on the issue.

Just days before, Lone had also criticised the reservation system, calling it “recruitment apartheid,”.

His remarks followed the announcement of appointments to the Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service (JKAS) and J&K Accounts cadres, where only 10 of the 55 selected officers were from the Valley.

“Kashmir accounts for 56% of the population but received only 18% of the posts. This is deliberate marginalisation,” he alleged.

Protests have been witnessed across the Union Territory against the amended reservation policy introduced in 2024, which reduced the general category share to below 40% in jobs and admissions.

Lone earlier said that it's part of a larger strategy, “It’s plain and simple persecution of the Valley’s inhabitants,”.