JAMMU: Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar today inaugurated the marketing exhibition cum mega sale of products and handicrafts of entrepreneurs and unit holders sponsored by J&K SC, ST& BC Development Corporation at Jammu Haat here.
Addressing the gathering of a large number of unit holders and beneficiaries, Advisor Bhatnagar said that the LG’s Administration is committed to the upliftment of weaker sections of the society and in last three years significant initiatives have been launched for the SCs, STs, and OBCs across Jammu and Kashmir. He added that more than 36 crores of assistance amount has been disbursed by the corporation this year which reflects the intentions of the Administration towards their welfare.
The Advisor further said that the corporation has also simplified the procedure of obtaining government assistance and an online mode of service delivery has been established across UT for the benefit of common citizens. He enjoined upon the management of the corporation to maintain coordination with other departments so that aspiring entrepreneurs are facilitated and provided timely benefits.
Calling upon the officers of the corporation for rigorous awareness campaigns, Advisor Bhatnagar asked them to target the locals from the grassroots level and make them aware of different government beneficiary schemes. He asked them to organize awareness camps in coordination with PRIs so that the required target group is benefitted.
Highlighting the various interventions of government for the upliftment of weaker sections of society, Advisor Bhatnagar maintained that UT is marching towards economic prosperity and development, and from the last several years that development and change is reflected on the ground. “Opportunities like today were never before here and everyone should take due benefits of it”, said Advisor Bhatnagar.
The Advisor further asked the management of the corporation to establish a feedback mechanism for beneficiaries so that they can put their views before the administration. He also asked them to organize training and handholding workshops for the unit holders in new technologies and techniques emerging in this sector.
The Advisor also appreciated the role of Managing Director and asked the officers of the Corporation to gear up their efforts to make the corporation an ideal service institution and give the awareness of the schemes to the target group so that the schemes of the Corporation may reach to the deserving persons at the grassroots level. He also asked the participants beneficiaries to give wide publicity of the schemes/programmes of the Corporation in their respective areas so that every desirous/genuine person of the target group could be benefited from these schemes
During the sidelines of the workshop, Advisor Bhatnagar also distributed sanction letters among the 20 beneficiaries for an amount of Rs 1.35 crore.
The Advisor inspected all the stalls set up by the beneficiaries and interacted with the individual beneficiaries, who come across from the U.T. of Jammu & Kashmir & U.T. of Ladakh to display and sell their products which they have made with the loan assistance provided by the Corporation.
In her address, the Managing Director of the Corporation, Ulfat Jabeen, presented details of achievements made by the Corporation so far and informed that the corporation is working for the Socio-economic & educational upliftment of weaker sections of the society, i.e. Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, Notified National Minorities, Safai Karamcharis, and Persons with Disabilities. She added that the mandate given to the corporation by the Government is to provide better self-employment avenues to the target group, to empower them to break away from traditional occupation, depressed social conditions, and poverty, and leverage them to work their own way up the social and economic ladder with dignity and pride and become economically independent and self-reliant members of the society.
The Managing Directors also informed that the Corporation under its various schemes so far has provided loan assistance to the tune of Rs.301.79 crores to 40632 beneficiaries for setting up of income generating units. It was also informed by the M.D. that during the current financial year against the target of 2500 cases, upto mid of December 2022, Corporation has sanctioned loans in favor of 1567 beneficiaries to the tune of Rs. 36.73 crore and the targets set for the current financial shall be achieved within the stipulated time.
Besides a large gathering of unit holders, Additional District Dev. Commissioner, Jammu, Managing Director, SICOP, and senior officers from other Departments and Corporations were also present on the occasion.
