Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, June 22: Mission Youth, a comprehensive youth development program, launched by Jammu and Kashmir Government, has proved boon towards enhancing skills and entrepreneurship among youth of the region.
The initiative has been successful in addressing the socio-economic issues faced by the youth of the UT by providing them a platform to optimally harness their skills in different potential entrepreneurial prospects, thereby contributing towards growth and development of the region.
One of the primary objectives of Mission Youth was to address the issue of unemployment among youth which has been successful in creating employment opportunities by providing requisite training and support for entrepreneurship. Under the initiative, the government has established incubation centres and provided financial assistance to young entrepreneurs to start their own business ventures. This has not only created jobs but also boosted economy of the region.
Muzafar Wani of Ramsoo, Ramban, always dreamt of owning a vehicle as he wanted to secure a respectable livelihood that could fulfill the needs of his family for a better tomorrow. Wani, who was working as driver couldn’t bear expenses of his family including his two daughters with that meagre salary.
Wani couldn’t save enough money to purchase his own vehicle and the unfulfilled needs of the family had left him in an devastating feeling of frustration and depression. That is when the Mumkin scheme started by J&K Government through Mission Youth came to the rescue of Wani.
“It was like a dream come true when I was informed about the benefits of the scheme, he said”. An elated Wani said that he is satisfied being the happy owner of Tata Yodha and is earning enough to feed his family and educate his daughters.
In the present financial year, 4482 youth have been facilitated for self-employment under the scheme with a total financial support of 165 crore through scheme banking partner and 16 crore as government contribution towards subsidy. Self-employment avenues created under this scheme have instilled a sense of self- reliance and positivity among youth.
Similarly, Tejaswani scheme is a specially tailored self-employment programme for empowerment of young women of Jammu & Kashmir aimed to promote entrepreneurship among them.
This scheme helped them in attaining economic independence and improved their social status. All women entrepreneurs covered under the program have been given Entrepreneurship Development Program trainings through Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI), for attaining proper market skills and technology knowhow for making their business viable.
Afshana of Ganderbal always dreamt of securing a respectable livelihood that could fulfill her personal and family’s financial needs. She, before opting for Tajeswani, used to give home tuition to small children in her neighbourhood. However, that was not sufficient to bear her personal expenses.
Afshana established a poultry farm with the assistance provided under Tejaswini scheme and now she is providing employment to five more fellow girls.
This financial year, assistance to more than 1588 women entrepreneurs has been provided under the scheme with a resultant employment generation of 3615. Total financial assistance to the tune of ? 102 crore has been sanctioned along with an amount of ? 12 crore as government contribution towards subsidy.
Likewise, the Mission Youth started Youth Volunteer Program for youth engagement at grassroots level and rolled out a special volunteer program in the name of YOUTH CLUBS. The initiative was approved by the Governing Body of Mission Youth, headed by Lieutenant Governor. The volunteer program was made fully operational on the eve of International Youth Day 2021 and 4500 youth clubs have been constituted under the program across the UT.
An amount of Rs 7.25 crore has been provided as grant in aid for specified activities of the youth clubs in present financial year.
Mission Youth’ has succeeded in turning J-K youth into ambassadors of innovation, peace and development through systematic interventions for youth engagement and outreach under six domains including livelihood generation, education/skill development, financial assistance, counseling/theory, sports and recreation.
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