By Umaima Reshi
SRINAGAR: On August 7, 2025, Jammu and Kashmir’s Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo reviewed Mission YUVA and declared that the time had come when Kashmiris and Jammuities would no longer wait endlessly for jobs, but would create them.
For decades, the region’s economy had remained dependent on government employment, vulnerable to the swings of tourism, and weakened by an underdeveloped industrial base. Unemployment among the youth far exceeded the national average. Even the brightest graduates spent years scanning recruitment lists, with many abandoning the idea of entrepreneurship altogether. Dulloo acknowledged that “planning a business was unthinkable” for most young people.
It was to address this gap that Mission YUVA, the Yuva Udyami Vikas Abhiyan or Youth Entrepreneur Development Campaign, was conceived. Its scale is vast: 3.7 lakh new enterprises and 4.25 lakh jobs. The Mission set out to weave together four elements, capital in the form of finance, capacity in the form of skills, connectivity through resources and markets, and culture, to create an ecosystem where entrepreneurship would not be an exception but a norm.
The Mission’s ambition is not to merely produce statistics but to change mindsets. Its design targets four specific streams. The first is Nano Enterprises and Collectives, small ventures rooted in rural panchayats that provide steady incomes. The second is enterprises in Sunrise Sectors, such as renewable energy, technology, and specialised tourism. The third involves Business Acceleration, helping small firms to scale up. The fourth is Neo-Innovative Enterprises, startups built on fresh and high-growth ideas.
The official target is 2.5 lakh businesses and 7.5 lakh jobs. Yet the deeper goal is cultural: to turn young people into job creators rather than job seekers.
Officials recognised that loans and incubation centres would not succeed unless the very idea of entrepreneurship was planted first. Out of this realisation grew Udyam Jagriti, a mass public awareness campaign.
Within a year, more than 40,000 aspiring entrepreneurs had attended sessions, including over 10,000 women. In some districts, women’s participation even exceeded 30 per cent. Weekly events fuelled this energy, with Roz-e-YUVA in Kashmir and YUVA Udyami Diwas in Jammu, showcasing local success stories and distributing bank sanction letters in public ceremonies.
Dreams, however, require more than inspiration. They require funding. Mission YUVA ensured that applications flowed smoothly from Small Business Development Units (SBDUs) to district-level banks.
So far, 31,411 applications have been received. Loans worth Rs 29.7 crore have been disbursed, and subsidy support of Rs 5.15 crore has been granted. Most of the applications concern nano enterprises, including tailoring shops, food stalls, and small manufacturing units, with an average loan size of Rs 6.6 lakh. By contrast, MSMEs in focus sectors demand far larger investments, with average project costs of about Rs 73 lakh.
Delays remain a stumbling block. In some districts, verification takes more than a month, and bank sanctions stretch beyond 25 days. One official warned that momentum was crucial, adding that when the process dragged on, many people lost interest and walked away.
To fix this, the Mission introduced AI-based Detailed Project Report generators, hired chartered accountants for an intensive three-month push, and trained bank managers to guide applicants in preparing viable proposals. Plans are also underway to establish a Credit Guarantee Fund with NABSanrakshan, reducing loan risks in agri-allied sectors such as dairy and beekeeping.
While nano enterprises form the backbone, Mission YUVA’s greatest aspiration lies in innovation. Two Innovation Hubs are being established at IIM Jammu, one each in Jammu and Srinagar, to anchor a wider network of incubation centres across universities and polytechnics.
By 2030, the Mission hopes to foster 500 neo-innovative enterprises. Startups selected under this stream will enter the Innovation and Sustainability Challenge, receiving up to Rs six lakh in seed funding, Rs 20 lakh in matched government support, and opportunities to attract venture capital.
Thirteen sector-specific incubation centres are in focus. Yet preparedness varies. Some lack full-time staff, prototyping labs, or mentorship support. Others, such as SKUAST Jammu, have already graduated more than 100 incubatees and raised substantial venture funding. Corrective measures include appointing dedicated heads and establishing shared-access labs across districts.
Mission YUVA’s strength lies in its people. Twenty SBDUs and 80 Business Help Desks are already operational on the ground. More than 1,000 Motivators each cover five panchayats, guiding nearly 1,000 aspiring entrepreneurs apiece. YUVA Doots, youth leaders embedded in communities, help applicants navigate every stage from idea to sanction.
Recruitment has been stringent. Local domicile, relevant education, work experience, and fluency in local languages are mandatory.
Still, progress is uneven. In Kashmir, Kulgam and Srinagar have surpassed their targets, while Budgam has verified only 20 per cent of applications. In Jammu, Samba has cleared more than half, but Kathua lags at just 36 per cent. Geography explains part of this disparity, but institutional readiness also plays a role. Some banks remain understaffed, and several district teams are still mid-recruitment.
The review meeting did not end with self-congratulation but with a list of tasks. Officials pledged to complete recruitment for SBDUs, Business Help Desks, and motivators by mid-September. They also resolved to operationalise the Credit Guarantee Fund, roll out the Innovation and Sustainability Challenge across the Union Territory, integrate the MSME Health Clinic with the Mission YUVA app for smoother monitoring, and provide targeted support to lagging districts.
What distinguishes Mission YUVA is that it seeks not only to transform an economy but to reshape an entire generation’s mindset. Awareness campaigns are given as much priority as loan disbursals. Skill fairs run alongside discussions on credit guarantees.
As Dulloo concluded, “We can provide schemes, training, and funding, but unless the youth begin to see themselves differently, this will end up as just another file in the archives.”
If momentum holds, by 2030, Jammu and Kashmir could look entirely different. No longer only a land of mountains and valleys, it could become a region buzzing with workshops, women-led collectives exporting handmade goods, and tech startups pitching bold ideas to global investors.
