CS reviews employment generation avenues in J&K

SRINAGAR, JUNE 28: The Chief Secretary, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta today chaired a meeting to review the project-wise potential for employment generation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Administrative Secretaries of departments of Rural Development, Housing & Urban Development, Skill Development, Animal & Sheep Husbandry, Labour & Employment, Social Welfare, besides Chief Executive Officer, Mission Youth, Mission Director, Livelihood Mission and concerned officers participated in the meeting.

The Chief Secretary asked the departments to prioritize employment generation in the Union territory with a special focus on private sector jobs and self-employment opportunities.

Reviewing PM Kashual Vikas Yojna, the Chief Secretary asked the Skill Development Department to train 20,000 youth in market-driven skills so that they can be linked with gainful employment in various sectors.

It was informed that Mission Youth will be providing livelihood opportunities to 50,000 youth of Jammu and Kashmir through various systematic interventions. The Department was asked to ensure convergence with other departments and establish forward and backward linkages with the skill training so as to provide end-to-end assistance and required handholding to the job seekers and young entrepreneurs.

The Animal & Sheep Husbandry Department was directed to take up the establishment of 1000 units each in animal (dairy) and sheep sectors, besides 500 fishery units to engage approximately 15,000 people during 2021-22.

Under UMEED, it was informed that J&K Rural Livelihood Mission has so far linked 46,000 self-help groups to financial institutions with 591 crore worth credit line. The Chief Secretary asked the Mission to target 44,000 self help groups, reaching out to approximately 2.20 lakh beneficiaries through social and financial mobilization, during this financial year.

The Chief Secretary asked the Social Welfare Department to target extending highly subsidized loans to 5000 eligible beneficiaries from weaker sections of the society including SC, ST, OBC and women entrepreneurs.

The Industries & Commerce Department and J&K Khadi and Village Industries Board were directed to sponsor entrepreneurs under PM Employment Generation Programme and assess their functioning through a third party assessment as per the norms of the scheme.

The J&K Bank was asked to extend financial assistance to future entrepreneurs of J&K under the MSME sector, besides expediting sanction and disbursement of loans under various schemes in favour of sector-wise beneficiaries sponsored by respective departments. The J&K Bank was also asked to ensure timely disposal of sponsored cases.

The Chief Secretary asked the Labor & Employment Department to co-ordinate employment generation activities of various departments and ensure targeted coverage of unemployed youth in various sectors of the economy.