Mission Youth: An engine of socio-economic growth

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir government has launched a groundbreaking initiative of Mission Youth with the objective to act as a conduit for the aspirations and concerns of the youngsters.

The mission is intended to provide a platform for the unparalleled transformation of the youth into ambassadors of hope, peace, and socio-economic growth through systematic interventions across various domains.

The mission lays emphasis on all individuals between the age group of 15 to 25 years with twin related aims: to effectively support and encourage young individuals in fulfilling their potential and aspirations while addressing their needs and concerns and to efficiently endorse young people to shape their future as per their aspirations.

The programme was conceived with the objective to positively engage the youth of J&K through a multi-pronged strategy involving all necessary systematic interventions.

Thus the organization envisions inducing a sieve of demand-driven interventions for inclusive development of youth which includes the provision of livelihood generation, skill development, education, counseling & rehabilitation, sports, recreation, etc.

For holistic and pragmatic youth engagement and empowerment in J&K on sustainable lines, Mission Youth envisions setting-up of specially tailored youth centers with the state-of-the-art architecture in all 20 districts of Jammu and Kashmir, primarily designed to present a safe youth-appealing environment with the manifestation of hope, security, and aspirations of the youth.

MUMKIN Scheme: Under the umbrella of Mission Youth, the Mumkin Scheme is one of the prominent schemes of the J&K government with the aim to facilitate the youth of Jammu and Kashmir to establish a sustainable livelihood in the transport sector by providing financial assistance for the acquisition of new small commercial vehicles.

The applicant has full liberty to choose any small commercial vehicle of any approved models/makes of his/her choice. The small commercial vehicles include taxis, mini-buses, light commercial vehicles, tempo, and any other mode of transportation of similar nature under a public carrier permit. The scheme is being implemented by Mission Youth, J&K through district-level committees constituted for the purpose.

The scheme banking partner shall extend the loan facility to the extent of 100% of the on-road price of the vehicle to be purchased under the scheme. Mission Youth shall provide an amount of Rs 80000 or 10% of the On-road price of the vehicle as an upfront subsidy towards the loan amount of the beneficiary under the scheme.

The vehicle manufacturer shall also provide an upfront special discount, not less than the amount of subsidy provided by Mission Youth towards the loan account of the beneficiary.

TEJASWINI (THE RADIANT) is another scheme to empower and inspire women for income generation for activities either in manufacturing, service, trading, small business, etc. Its core focus is to facilitate soft finance for setting up new units/enterprises or for expansion/modernization of existing units or for the acquisition of fixed assets (plant and machinery, equipment, furniture & fixtures).

Under the scheme, the eligible potential female entrepreneurs are facilitated to avail financial assistance under Mudra Loan from J&K bank to the extent of 5 lakh.

The scheme banking partners extend a loan facility to the extent of 100% of the project cost under the scheme where Mission youth provides an amount of Rs 50000 or 10% of the project cost under the scheme.

The activities covered under Tejaswini are canteen and restraint, creche, cyber café, beauty parlor, daycare center, laundry & dry cleaning, mobile repairing, photocopying center, training institute, fitness center, yoga center, or any other profitable activity.

To support the masses, the new government livelihood schemes aim to provide easy loans and subsidies to unemployed youth interested in doing any start-up business. The fundamental of Mission Youth is to give opportunities to unemployed youth by enabling them to access gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities, resulting in appreciable improvement in their livelihoods on a sustainable basis, through building strong grassroots institutions for the youth.

In seeking to realize this vision for the future of young people of J&K, the following overarching values are the guiding force behind all actions of Mission Youth: Respect, Recognition, Sustained support, and solidarity. While as the principles of Mission Youth for releasing the values include Responsiveness, Access, Participation, Inclusion, Diversity, Empowerment, and Equality.

Youth Clubs:

The Mission Youth empowers youth as an important stakeholder in Participatory Good Governance and in this regard 4239 Youth Clubs were constituted on Mission Mode across J&K to mark International Youth Day 2021.

These youth clubs are engaging volunteers, who will get an opportunity to work through real challenges and make meaningful change in society.

The opening up of youth clubs is another golden chapter in J&K’s history with the creation of the 4239 Youth Clubs under Mission Youth in a record time, the J&K Government had taken a firm step towards making the Youth a partner in the Governance process and UT’s development.

Youth Data Bank and Interactive Digital Platform:

The initiative is intended to address shortcomings of official statistics regarding the youth of J&K. The initiative will result in the creation of a repository of consistent and reliable youth statistics required for short and long-term planning and implementation of youth engagement and empowerment programmes.

The initiative will also facilitate establishing direct communication linkages with the youth for greater engagement. The major activities to be taken under this initiative are detailed as under.

To develop a target-specific database of the young population; to capture about 75 critical contours of young population ranging from demographics to psycho-social interactions; effective mechanism for information dissemination; to provide all youth-related services through the digital platform; promote the concept of “Digital India”; to design area, gender, age-specific engagement programmes for youth; formation of youth groups for perennial updation of dates and registration of Young Achievers as Youth Icons.

Tourist Village Network Programme:

Besides these programmes, the J&K administration led by Lieutenant Governor, Shri Manoj Sinha had launched the ‘Tourist Village Network’ under Mission Youth to provide further impetus to the tourism industry.

Under the initiative, over 75 villages in the UT would promote tourism and provide sustainable employment for the local youth from these areas.

The initiative is aimed at transforming 75 villages of Jammu and Kashmir known for historical, picturesque beauty, and cultural significance into tourist villages.

The youth-led sustainable tourism initiative will strengthen the rural economy & community entrepreneurship, empower youth & women by providing direct and indirect employment opportunities.