Srinagar, July 26 -- His three-storey home, still unfinished, looms over a small orchard, the walls echoing with unpaid EMIs and a silent tension that has crept into family conversations.

The kids are still in primary school, his wife had to quit her job, and half of his monthly salary now vanishes into servicing a loan that was meant to be a "smart" move.

This story is not Imtiyaz's alone.

Across Kashmir, thousands of government employees are building what they believe are their dream homes: often too soon, too big, and too expensive.

What begins as a well-intentioned decision backed by attractive bank schemes and the lure of tax exemptions gradually turns into a financial snare.

By the time they realize it, they're bound to a rigid...