Srinagar, April 21 -- Kashmir's classrooms stay full even as its job market stays narrow. Families continue to invest in higher education, and young people stretch their academic journeys into their late twenties and early thirties. Degrees multiply, but matching jobs remain scarce in a region with a weak private sector and a limited number of government posts.

Data points to a widening mismatch. The Periodic Labour Force Survey shows that unemployment among graduates in India remains far higher than among those with basic schooling, and the gap is sharper in regions with fewer formal jobs. Jammu and Kashmir has recorded high overall unemployment in recent years, with youth bearing the largest share. The expansion of colleges has increas...