Thousands of female entrepreneurs are starting their business journeys with new vigor and vitality thanks to the Jammu and Kashmir government, led by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who has created an encouraging and conducive environment to promote women's entrepreneurship culture in the UT.
UT's enthusiastic businesswomen are climbing the ladder of success with help from the administration in the form of numerous lucrative incentives under various schemes, allowing them to reach the top echelons of the business world. The administration's primary measures for assisting women entrepreneurs with appropriate educational backgrounds and experience are yielding significant benefits. The government works to guarantee that women become a beacon of enlightenment and a key driver in Jammu and Kashmir's development.
In Jammu and Kashmir, the National Rural Livelihoods Mission is known as the Jammu and Kashmir State Rural Livelihoods Mission (Umeed). The UMEED (JK Rural Livelihood Mission) is in the process of transforming women into progressive, self-employed women entrepreneurs.
The Rural Livelihood Mission aims to alleviate poverty in the state by establishing strong grassroots institutions for the poor, involving them in profitable livelihoods activities, and assuring a sustained increase in their income.
With 60,000 Self Help Groups (SHG) and 5,02641 women beneficiaries, JKRLM has become a change-driven movement in J&K.
According to official numbers, SHGs supported by Umeed JKRLM have received Rs 890.55 crore in bank credit and Rs 273.88 crore in capitalization from JKRLM.
The fact that these SHGs have raised Rs 168.88 crore from their savings is both encouraging and motivating.
Similarly, the J&K government's Mission Youth program empowers youth as key stakeholders in Participatory Good Governance. To commemorate International Youth Day 2021, 4239 Youth Clubs have been established on a Mission Mode basis across J&K. These youth clubs are enlisting volunteers who will have the opportunity to work through real-world problems and make significant societal changes.
With the foundation of these 4239 Youth Clubs under Mission Youth in record time, the J&K Government has taken a significant step toward making the youth a partner in the government process and the development of the UT.
More than 8000 women are members of these clubs to provide adequate representation for women.
It is also worth noting that the J&K government has assisted 6000 young women who were selected at the Panchayat level in becoming entrepreneurs.
Meanwhile, Dr. Syed Sehrish Asgar, the Mission Director of the Jammu and Kashmir Rural Livelihood Mission (JKRLM), got the renowned SKOCH award for her remarkable contribution to the economic development of rural women through the SAATH program.
The SKOCH Foundation has awarded the JKRLM the coveted SKOCH Award in honor of the JKRLM's achievements under the SAATH program.
While interacting with beneficiaries from J&K under the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) Pragati and Saksham scholarship schemes, through virtual mode, LG Sinha said, “Collective efforts are yielding favorable results. During Kashmir University’s convocation, there were 94 gold medalists in 2021, of which, 77 percent, which is 66 were girls. Similarly, during the convocation of the Islamic University of Science and Technology, the majority of gold medalists were women which is a clear sign of women empowerment,” he said.
LG Sinha emphasized the importance of policy execution as well as the necessity to focus on women's skill training and re-skilling so that they can participate equally in future economic possibilities.
