Srinagar: Mohammad Aijaz Asad on Saturday chaired a meeting of the UT-Level Steering Committee under the Jammu and Kashmir Rural Livelihoods Mission, which accorded in-principle approval to six Detailed Project Reports worth ₹36 crore under the Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme.
The approved projects are aimed at promoting rural entrepreneurship and sustainable non-farm livelihood opportunities across Jammu and Kashmir.
According to officials, the DPRs pertain to six new SVEP blocks — Sogam-Wavoora, Pulwama-Litter, Chadoora-Surasyar, Khour-Paragwal, Pouni-Reasi and Bhadarwah-Bhalla — where over 12,000 enterprises are expected to be established during the next four years.
The meeting was attended by Shubhra Sharma, Rajneesh Gupta and representatives from several departments and institutions, including NABARD, Khadi and Village Industries Commission and Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India.
Officials informed the committee that Jammu and Kashmir has been implementing SVEP since 2015-16 with technical support from National Resource Organisation partners, including EDII. The programme initially started in Lar block of Ganderbal and Basohli block of Kathua, where nearly 2,500 entrepreneurs were established during the first phase.
With the latest approvals, SVEP coverage in Jammu and Kashmir will expand from eight to 14 districts.
The Secretary said the newly approved projects focus on promoting enterprises based on local resources and market demand, including walnut oil extraction, sheep wool processing, trout fish processing, eco-tourism homestays, vermi-compost production, saffron value addition, herbal tea processing, amla products and honey processing.
Aijaz Asad stressed the need for identifying economically sustainable enterprises backed by market linkages and value-addition opportunities to ensure long-term livelihood generation for rural youth and women.
He also called for strengthening entrepreneurship training, village-level capacity building and inter-departmental coordination for effective implementation of the programme.
According to figures shared during the meeting, non-farm livelihood initiatives in Jammu and Kashmir have so far supported 26,551 enterprises, including 26,217 individual enterprises and 355 group enterprises under NRLM and SVEP.
The Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme is a sub-scheme under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana National Rural Livelihoods Mission aimed at promoting non-farm entrepreneurship among Self-Help Group members and rural households.
