Muzaffarabad [PoJK], December 16 : Concerns are intensifying in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) over rising unemployment and the soaring cost of education, with growing youth frustration now spilling onto the streets. Senior Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) leader Syed Shujaat Kazmi has warned that worsening economic pressures and governance failures are pushing young people to stage open protests against the government.
Addressing the issue, Kazmi highlighted the sharp increase in university and college fees, which he said has made higher education unaffordable for poorer families. He warned that without urgent intervention, financial stress on students and parents could further deepen youth anger and social instability across the region.
"If you check university fees, they are seventy to eighty thousand rupees per semester. Which poor family can afford that for their son or daughter? Higher education, especially in universities, has become very costly. The situation is the same in colleges, and even worse in the private sector", Kazmi said.
Kazmi also drew attention to serious development failures in PoJK, particularly in remote areas. He said communities continue to struggle with shortages of clean water, healthcare facilities, and basic school infrastructure, while many buildings damaged during floods remain unrepaired even years later.
"For years, the People's Party has repeatedly raised these issues. Healthcare has become a business. Private hospitals and doctors often exploit patients. A treatment that should cost fifty thousand rupees ends up billed at one hundred thousand. This healthcare mafia, doctors and private hospitals operating in the name of treatment seek maximum profit", he said.
Kazmi added that insurance companies and certain interest groups benefit at the expense of ordinary citizens, leaving the common man with little relief. "Someone suffering from even a minor illness gets no real benefit. What people want are functional government hospitals, free doctors, free treatment, and free medicines," Kazmi stressed.
Calling for immediate action, Kazmi urged PoJK Prime Minister Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore to address public grievances and restore trust, warning that continued neglect could fuel further unrest among the youth.
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