“We are on a mission to Uplift, Mentor and provide Sustainable Livelihood to Youth of Jammu Kashmir”: Lt Governor

Jammu: Moving forward to manifest the decisions and plan evolved during the Youth Engagement and Outreach Conference organized by Mission Youth on 31, October 2020, Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha today gave shape to one such ambitious customized Youth Livelihood Programme for Transport sector.

Pertinently, Mission Youth of J&K government is working with its vision and strategy for engaging and channelizing the youth of J&K through systematic Livelihood Generation programmes.

In response to the commitments made by Ashok Leyland, among others, to the government in creating sustainable livelihood avenues for the youths of J&K, the Union Territory administration in partnership with Ashok Leyland has moved towards achieving the vision of our Hon’ble Prime Minister to provide sustainable livelihood to youth under “MUMKIN” scheme for Transport Sector. With this partnership, aim to move towards creation of a better socio-economic ecosystem, self-employment opportunities, and elimination of poverty in the Union Territory.

As part of the “MUMKIN” initiative, the Lieutenant Governor distributed highly subsidized small commercial vehicles among 10 young beneficiaries from across the Union Territory to mark the beginning of the government’s commitment towards livelihood generation for youth.

“We are on a mission to Uplift, Mentor and provide Sustainable Livelihood to Youth of Jammu Kashmir. The idea behind this initiative is to provide Small Commercial Vehicles to youth with reasonable subsidies both from the manufacturer and Government, enabling them to earn a decent livelihood”, observed the Lt Governor.

“I have given four P’s Mantras- Peace, Progress, Prosperity, and People-First- for holistic development and to make Jammu Kashmir Atma Nirbhar. I am happy to share that we are swiftly moving towards this direction”, the Lt Governor maintained.

The UT Government is paving a concrete framework for youth empowerment by creating sustainable livelihood avenues for the youth of J&K under Youth Engagement & Outreach programmes and today’s initiative is a way forward in this direction.

With the faster policy reforms and implementation on the ground we are at a turning point of creating much more dynamic entrepreneurship culture in the Union Territory. These mini- commercial vehicles will enable our youth between the age of 22 to 35 years to contribute in the growth of Union Territory and in coming days a large population will become Atma Nirbhar, he added.

We have strong macro-economic fundamentals, policy environment, and quality of human resources to fast-track livelihood generation programs. I would like to congratulate and urge all the beneficiaries today to continue working for the betterment of society, he continued.

The partnership aims to create entrepreneur opportunities for the youth of Jammu & Kashmir, by offering the Small Commercial Vehicles, besides enabling setting up of a Regional Automotive Centre of Excellence housed in the Government ITIs, Driver Training Institute in Srinagar, and Model Schools. These Model schools will be the Center of Excellence for other Government schools providing a holistic learning experience based on the ‘Road to School’ model which Ashok Leyland has been able to successfully implement in other states.

Interestingly, Tata group has also shown interest in contributing to this mission and have offered to provide mini commercial vehicles to unemployed youths of J&K Union Territory.

All these initiatives will complement the government’s efforts to substantially contribute to J&K’s economic development and employment opportunities gradually, he added.

Commenting on the association, Sh. Dheeraj Hinduja, Chairman, Ashok Leyland, said, “We are delighted to partner with and appreciate the faith extended by the Government of Jammu & Kashmir in us to help enhance the welfare of the people and to make their youth Atma Nirbhar, in the truest sense. As India’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturer, Ashok Leyland has always believed in India and the Indian youth to achieve whatever they set their minds on, given their propensity to innovate and accomplish.”

Sh. Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the Lt Governor; Sh. BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary; Sh. Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to Lt Governor; Sh. R K Chhibber, Chairman, J&K Bank; CEO, Mission Youth, Dr Syed Abid Rasheed Shah and other senior officers were present on the occasion.