India, Feb. 13 -- Senior National Conference leader and MP Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan on Thursday raised concerns in the Rajya Sabha over rising unemployment and increasing drug abuse in Jammu and Kashmir, urging the Centre to outline concrete steps to tackle the twin challenges.
Raising a supplementary during Question Hour in the Parliament, Choudhary said the unemployment rate in J&K was nearly double the national average and had been increasing steadily over the past few years.
Citing figures, he said that while the national unemployment rate hovered around 3.2 to 3.5 per cent in recent years, the rate in J&K stood at 4.4 per cent in 2022-23, rose to 6.1 per cent in 2023-24 and further to 6.7 per cent in 2025.
"The national average rem...