The leader of the Opposition in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, Sunil Sharma of the BJP, on Saturday warned the Omar Abdullah government of youth unrest over the outsourcing of 24,000 jobs to private companies, calling it a betrayal of educated youths waiting for government employment.

Sharma’s threat has come amid claims of the Jammu and Kashmir government that thousands of jobs have been outsourced to private companies.

The Jammu and Kashmir government is facing mounting anger over rising unemployment and a skewed reservation policy, which disproportionately favours reserved category candidates.

Omar had on Friday told the Assembly that his government was committed to filling vacancies in a time-bound manner, announcing that over 30,000 vacancies would be filled in 2026.

The government has also revealed that around 22,886 jobs have been outsourced, claiming it was doing so under approved mechanisms and one of its key objectives was to minimise public spending.

Sharma on Saturday told a media conference that the ruling National Conference had promised to provide one lakh jobs within 15 days but had ended up outsourcing thousands of jobs.

The BJP leader called it a betrayal of educated youths. The LoP criticised the government for its failure to regularise thousands of daily wagers.

“If this order is not reversed, the government will have to face the heat of the youth in every street,” he said.

The warning masks an irony — the local BJP is mounting pressure on an elected government for its failure to address rising unemployment, to mitigate which the Centre has not allotted adequate funds.

Jammu and Kashmir is dependent on central funds for such initiatives. Senior ministers in the Omar government recently accused the Centre of making insufficient allocations in the central budget for Jammu and Kashmir. Sharma, however, credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi with giving “security” to the people of the Union Territory and accused Omar of “stealing” their jobs.

Sharma said outsourcing of jobs had “shattered the dreams” of educated youths awaiting recruitment. “A poor child whose parents worked hard to educate him waits for a job advertisement, an exam and an interview. That dream has been shattered,” he said in Srinagar.

The BJP leader also criticised the chief minister’s conduct in and outside the House, terming it “frustration and arrogance”. He said his party would continue to hold the government accountable on employment and governance.

Sharma accused Omar of using derogatory language and threats towards political colleagues, calling such actions a sign of “frustration and arrogance” in the face of public scrutiny.

“They (ruling NC leaders) have betrayed Kashmir, misled the people and tarnished the region’s image. Today, the people are rejecting them,” he said.