Innovative ideas of youth to give impetus to the development of J&K: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha

SRINAGAR : Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today distributed small commercial vehicles to 250 youth from across the UT under “Mumkin” scheme of Mission Youth program in a distribution event held at SKICC here.

Congratulating the youth who were handed over the keys of small commercial vehicles, the Lt Governor wished for their successful future as they embark on a new journey as self-employed entrepreneurs.

Underlining the need for channelization of youth energy, the Lt Governor said that the UT government is running many programs for livelihood generation, skill development and youth engagement under Mission Youth and other entrepreneurial, self employment schemes. “The collective commitment of all the programs for youth is to provide them opportunities for a career and become job providers apart from becoming successful entrepreneurs”, added the Lt Governor.

He informed that under the guidance of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, J&K has got a new industrial development scheme of Rs 28,400 crore. “When this scheme was launched earlier this year, our estimate was to attract Rs 20,000-25,000 crores. But seeing the interest and enthusiasm of investors, it seems that this figure could reach around Rs 50,000 crores. Similarly, the estimate of employment generation under the New Industrial Development scheme would also get doubled”, he added.

“Besides setting up Industrial estates, IT Towers, Logistics Parks, Cold Chain, Medicity, Edu-city etc, the Industrial Policy also focuses on taking industrial growth to the Block level”, remarked the Lt Governor.

The Lt Governor said that innovative ideas of our youth would give impetus to the development of J&K. He mentioned about the LG Fellowship started by the Department of Higher Education in which the youth will get an opportunity to make policy and take part in the development process of J&K. We are extending every possible assistance to fulfill the aspirations of our talented youth, he added.

Recalling the target set for identifying two youth from each panchayat during the Back to Village program for providing financial assistance, the Lt Governor mentioned about Balwant Singh, a resident of Basantgarh, Udhampur, who was provided with Rs 10 lakh under this scheme, and is not only running his own business but has connected 20 more youth with him. Similarly, Ms Shami Jaan of Shopian has set up a manufacturing unit of readymade garments with the help of Rs. 9.5 lakhs and has involved 25 other people with her business.

There is no dearth of opportunities for hardworking youth and a revolutionary change and development can happen in our society with 20,000 such examples, the Lt Governor maintained.

Enumerating various initiatives taken by the Government for economic empowerment of women, the Lt Governor mentioned, inter alia, the “Tejaswini” program and the “Hausla” scheme started by the J&K administration for the women, under which training and market linkages will be provided to them.

The Lt Governor said that the government has also made a plan to expand the business of women entrepreneurs. He appealed to everyone to spread awareness among the people in villages, localities to connect maximum number of women with Tejaswini program.

On the occasion, the Lt Governor also informed that for this year, a target of making 50 thousand young boys and girl entrepreneurs has been set. “Along with brining reforms in the employment sector, we are also working on infrastructure development”, the Lt Governor added.

Citing the report of the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy for the month of June, the Lt Governor stated that today the unemployment rate in Jammu and Kashmir is only 10.6 percent, which is much less than many states like Kerala, Rajasthan, Haryana, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh and Goa, said the Lt Governor.

The changing work culture in Jammu and Kashmir is showing the results. Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors and Mahindra Group in association with the UT Government are helping to provide sustainable livelihood and employment opportunities to the youth, observed the Lt Governor.

Today the youth are feeling a ‘connect’ with the transparent administration. I get messages from thousands of youth every month and their biggest happiness is that for the first time they have got hope from a transparent and corruption-free system. I believe that there is no such challenge that cannot be overcome with the cooperation of 1.25 crore people of J&K, said the Lt Governor.

The Lt Governor further said that despite the outbreak of Corona, a record 16,000 projects were completed in 2020-21, whereas in 2019-20, this figure was only 10,500 projects. “A new era of development has rightly started in Jammu and Kashmir, and we have taken a giant leap towards inclusive development. Today, 44 panchayats, 40 blocks have been dedicated to the people in the form of Digital Village Centres and arrangements have been made to reach out with all the online schemes of the government”, he added.

The Lt Governor said that 20,000 posts various government departments are being filled in a free and fair manner and the selection is based entirely on merit.

Assuring that the government is working on all fronts, the Lt Governor said that about the 400 dental Surgeons are being given financial assistance in the first phase for starting their own clinics under Mission Youth, and to involve youth in sports, films, cultural and other activities, Youth Clubs are being formed in every panchayat.

Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, while speaking on the occasion, congratulated the young entrepreneurs who received the small commercial vehicles under the Mumkin scheme.

Mentioning about establishing Youth Clubs in coming weeks, the Chief Secretary said that the Government would provide plethora of avenues for Youth engagement.

Sh. Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, CEO Mission Youth gave a brief overview of the Mission Youth and various schemes being run under its ambit for youth engagement and providing livelihood opportunities to the talented youth of the UT.

It was informed that J&K Bank has given a special incentive by waiver of CGTMSE charges. It involves an additional benefit of Rs 70, 000 per case. The beneficiaries of Mumkin scheme get a total subsidy benefit of Rs 2.5 lakhs on an average, 10% of which is borne by Mission youth, 10% by manufacturers and rest as a waiver by the bank.

Sh. R K Chhibber, Chairman J&K Bank; IGP Kashmir, Sh Vijay Kumar; Deputy Commissioners of Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal; SSP Srinagar; representatives of Private partners and various district officers were present at the distribution ceremony.