Srinagar, 10 July 2026: Launching a blistering attack on the Omar Abdullah-led National Conference (NC) government, Leader of the Opposition in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Sunil Sharma on Friday termed the government’s outsourcing policy the “biggest-ever appointment scam” in Jammu and Kashmir and announced a state-wide agitation, accusing the administration of depriving meritorious youth of employment while facilitating backdoor appointments.
Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, Sharma alleged that the NC government had “shamelessly outsourced nearly 25,000 government jobs” and ensured the appointment of relatives and family members of party workers at the cost of deserving candidates.
Claiming that “legalised corruption” and a flourishing “transfer industry” were the only visible achievements of the present dispensation, Sharma accused the government of institutionalising corruption and turning public employment into a tool of political patronage.
“The biggest betrayal of Jammu and Kashmir’s educated youth is underway. Thousands of deserving candidates have been denied their rightful opportunities, while influential people are being accommodated through outsourcing and backdoor recruitment,” he alleged.
Calling the outsourcing policy an “appointment scandal,” Sharma claimed that contractual appointments were being made through outsourcing agencies, effectively shutting the doors on qualified aspirants preparing for competitive recruitment.
He alleged that thousands of educated unemployed youth, who had invested years preparing for government jobs, were now staring at an uncertain future because of what he described as the government’s “anti-youth recruitment policy.”
The BJP leader further claimed that poor families, who had made immense sacrifices to educate their children with the hope of securing stable government employment, were now facing despair as recruitment on merit was allegedly being replaced by favouritism.
Launching a sharp attack on the Abdullah family, Sharma alleged that successive generations of the family had “consistently denied opportunities” to the youth of Jammu and Kashmir and were once again pushing them towards unemployment and uncertainty.
He also accused the government of presiding over rampant corruption, alleging that ministers and senior officials were running a thriving “transfer industry” where transfers and postings were allegedly being sold for money.
“There is rampant corruption in several government departments. Money collected through transfers and other means is allegedly being shared among ministers, bureaucrats and even filling the treasury of one family. The BJP possesses evidence of these irregularities,” Sharma alleged, while demanding an independent probe into the functioning of departments, particularly those dealing with transfers and mining.
Taking a dig at the NC government’s poll promises, Sharma said the ruling party had failed to fulfil key commitments made before the Assembly elections, including providing 10 kilograms of free ration, 200 units of free electricity, one lakh government jobs and 12 free LPG cylinders annually.
Instead of answering questions over its “governance failures,” he alleged, the National Conference was attempting to divert public attention by organising a protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar seeking the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood.
“The much-publicised Delhi protest is nothing but a political gimmick aimed at diverting attention from the government’s complete failure on governance, unemployment and corruption,” Sharma said.
Announcing the BJP’s next course of action, Sharma said the party would launch a mass movement beginning from Kashmir against the outsourcing policy and the alleged recruitment irregularities.
He said the agitation would be expanded to every district, town and village across Jammu and Kashmir, asserting that it was not a political campaign but a movement to safeguard the rights of unemployed youth.
Inviting young people cutting across political affiliations, regions and religions to join the campaign, Sharma said the struggle was for transparency, merit and justice in public recruitment.
On the issue of statehood, Sharma reiterated that the BJP remained committed to restoring Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood, asserting that it would be achieved through Parliament and not through demonstrations at Jantar Mantar.
He also criticised the National Conference for allegedly not making statehood a part of its election manifesto and accused it of raising the issue now to evade accountability over its governance record.
Responding to a question on corruption investigations, Sharma said it was the responsibility of investigating agencies to probe the allegations, while it was the Opposition’s constitutional duty to expose government failures and raise issues affecting the people.
Warning that the BJP would intensify its agitation if the outsourcing policy was not withdrawn, Sharma said the party would continue its movement until the government reversed what he described as an “anti-youth decision.”
“The BJP will not remain silent. We will fight till our last breath for the rights, dignity and future of Jammu and Kashmir’s youth,” Sharma asserted.
Earlier, Leader of the Opposition in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, Sunil Sharma, chaired a strategy meeting with senior party leaders, including all district presidents, to chalk out a comprehensive mass mobilisation campaign against the National Conference government’s decision to outsource public posts, calling it a “direct assault on the aspirations of the unemployed youth of Jammu and Kashmir.”
During the meeting, Sharma said the proposed outsourcing of government jobs was an attempt by the Omar Abdullah-led government to evade its responsibility of providing transparent and merit-based employment to the youth. He asserted that public sector jobs belong to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and cannot be handed over to private agencies at the cost of job security, accountability and equal opportunity.
“The National Conference government is trying to privatise opportunities that rightfully belong to our educated youth. Outsourcing public posts will weaken institutional accountability and deprive deserving candidates of fair recruitment through established mechanisms,” Sharma said.
BJP J&K General Secretaries Anwar Khan and Gopal Mahajan; spokespersons Ankur Sharma, Zorawar Singh Jamwal, Altaf Thakur, Manzoor Bhat and Sahil Bashir; Secretary Arif Raja; and Media In-charge Sajid Yusuf were also present on the occasion.
