SRINAGAR: Minister for Agriculture Production, Javed Ahmad Dar, said that a total of 9.58 lakh self-employment and livelihood opportunities have been generated through schemes like Mumkin, Tejaswini, PMEGP, and REGP up to January 2025 in the past four years in JK.
The Minister was replying on behalf of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to a question raised by Mubarak Gul in the Legislative Assembly.
The Minister said that the unemployment rate has not increased drastically in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, standing at 6.7% in 2019-20 and 6.1% in 2023-24.
He informed that 11,526 selections have been made by the JKPSC and JKSSB, while 45,688 private employment opportunities have been created in the industrial sector during the past two financial years. Additionally, under MGNREGA, 3.01 crore person-days have been generated up to January 2025, providing employment to 8.07 lakh households.
The Minister said that the government has launched schemes like Mumkin, Tejaswini, Spurring Entrepreneurship, PARVAAZ, and the Tourist Village Development Program under the Mission Youth initiative.
He further informed that the Government of Jammu and Kashmir has initiated Mission YUVA for self-employment and entrepreneurship to identify, support, and empower 5 lakh potential entrepreneurs through a structured, technology-enabled approach. The initiative aims to create over 1,37,000 new enterprises across sectors and generate more than 4,25,000 employment opportunities over five years.
The Minister said that during the past four years, 246 job fairs were conducted, resulting in 4,893 placements by 2,760 companies, with 6,640 candidates recommended for skill training.
To address unemployment, the government has taken various initiatives, including the upgradation of Government Industrial Training Institutes through Public-Private Partnership (PPP), Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE), and the establishment of CIIIT at Government Polytechnic Jammu and Government Polytechnic Baramulla in collaboration with Tata Technologies.
He further informed that 3,342, 3,048, 1,331, and 7,851 youth have been trained under CTDP, B2V4, PMKVY, and Women SHGs, respectively.
The Minister said that out of 4,429 enrolled candidates, 3,249 have been certified under SANKALP. He added that the government is successfully implementing the Centrally Sponsored Schemes PMKVY and SANKALP. The Union Government has also approved the continuation of the Skill India Programme (SIP) until 2026, with a total budget of Rs 8,800 crore.
