SRINAGAR: The Union Cabinet today extended the time period for Udaan – the Special Industry Initiative (SII) for Jammu and Kashmir till 31 December 2018.
Udaan is a centrally funded skill enhancement scheme for J&K youth implemented by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). It is a special initiative to address the needs of the educated unemployed in the state who are graduate, post graduate and three year diploma engineers.
The aim of the scheme is to provide skills and job opportunities to the J&K youth and simultaneously provide exposure to corporate India towards the rich talented pool available in the State.
The target is to reach out to 40000 youth in J&K over a period of 5 years. The Udaan programme is designed to encourage corporates to travel to J&K meet with the youth and hire aspiring youth who wish to explore the opportunity to work with corporates. Udaan provides a framework of support to the youth to travel, undergo training in firms and transit to work.
Under UDAAN scheme, the selected candidates undergo rigorous training, ideally between 3 to 6 months, for a defined program. Travel, boarding and lodging costs are reimbursed.
A stipend is also provided to the candidate during the training period. At the end of training, candidates are assessed based on their training for a job position.
Around, 10555 JK youth who have joined Udaan training programs till July 2017, out of which placement orders have been made for 4,984 youth.
