SRINAGAR: More than one lakh applications have been received under Jammu and Kashmir’s Mission YUVA since its launch, with banks disbursing Rs 1,769 crore to 32,156 beneficiaries as the administration seeks to expand entrepreneurship and self-employment opportunities among the Union Territory’s youth.
The figures were provided by the Labour and Employment Department in response to a starred question, D. No. 1/6/26, tabled by Samba MLA Surjit Singh Slathia in the Legislative Assembly.
As of August 31, 2026, the department said 1,00,407 applications had been received under Mission YUVA, of which 36,077 had been sanctioned and 32,156 disbursed by banks. The sanctioned loans amounted to Rs 1,996 crore, while Rs 1,769 crore had been actually disbursed.
The government said Mission YUVA—Yuva Udyami Vikas Abhiyan—is aimed at promoting entrepreneurship, self-employment and sustainable livelihood opportunities through enterprise development, credit support, subsidy and interest subvention, market linkages, capacity building and institutional support.
The Mission envisages facilitating more than 1.37 lakh new enterprises and generating over 4.25 lakh employment opportunities across Jammu and Kashmir.
5.5 lakh potential entrepreneurs identified
According to the department, more than 5.50 lakh potential entrepreneurs have been identified through a data-driven baseline survey involving door-to-door enumeration of households and registered and unregistered enterprises.
Targeted outreach campaigns covered around three lakh rural women, 50,000 youth and more than 20,000 other potential entrepreneurs.
Agriculture and allied sectors accounted for approximately 21 per cent of applications received under the Mission, while more than 11,000 applications came from these sectors.
The government said 96 per cent of applications related to small or nano units, while 80,052 applications were received from rural areas.
Women submitted 18,969 applications. Of the cases that had been disbursed, 759 involved women belonging to Self-Help Groups.
Business support network expanded
The department said 20 Small Business Development Units (SBDUs) had been established across all districts to assist applicants with preparation of Detailed Project Reports, credit linkage, handholding and mentoring.
Another 82 Business Help Desks (BHDs) have been established at sub-divisional level as local business service centres.
A total of 1,322 positions under the Institutional Business Support Mechanism comprising SBDUs, BHDs and motivators had been filled as of August 31. The government said these positions also constituted direct employment for locally qualified graduates and diploma holders.
The Mission’s training network comprises 295 institutions, including Industrial Training Institutes, polytechnics, colleges and JKEDI centres, with 403 active trainers.
More than 36,000 training completions have been recorded under a four-module framework covering financial literacy, technology use, innovation and industry-relevant skills. The department said 477 mentors had been onboarded and 2,500 applicants had completed structured enterprise mentorship.
Digital and innovation initiatives
The Mission YUVA portal and mobile application provide scheme information, Detailed Project Report generation, job-matching facilities and AI-enabled CV generation, according to the government.
An e-commerce Seller App has also been integrated with the Open Network for Digital Commerce, with capacity to list more than 7,000 stock-keeping units and a three-document onboarding process.
The department said 1,200 awareness and mobilisation events had been held at district, block and regional levels across more than 255 educational institutions. An associated hackathon received more than 1,300 idea submissions.
Thirteen incubation centres have been established, with 11 neo-innovative enterprises selected for support. Each selected enterprise received Rs 6 lakh, with projects including biodegradable hydrogel derived from apple biomass, AI-enabled pet-health monitoring devices and space-science education kits.
The department also said the Agriculture Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme had been launched to facilitate collateral-free credit of up to Rs 10 lakh with 85 per cent guarantee coverage.
7,755 benefited under other schemes
Since inception, 5,130 youth have benefited under the Mumkin scheme, 1,823 under Tejaswini and 802 under the Spurring Entrepreneurship Innovative (SEI) scheme, taking the combined number to 7,755.
On whether the government intended to provide a monthly allowance to unemployed youth, the department said there was no proposal for a general unemployment stipend, citing the Union Territory’s overall financial position and resource constraints.
It said, however, that eligible candidates undergoing three-month Skill Development Courses receive a stipend of Rs 1,000 per month, subject to prescribed conditions.
A trainee can therefore receive a maximum of Rs 3,000 during the entire course, the government said.
The department said these training programmes are aligned with market demand and intended to improve the employment and self-employment prospects of unemployed youth across Jammu and Kashmir.
