Srinagar: In order to increase the youth engagement at the Panchayat level, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today directed for establishing Youth Clubs in every Panchayat across Jammu and Kashmir for constructive activities and addressing all the concerns of young generation.
In first phase 22,500 youth from 4290 Panchayats are to be engaged in these Youth clubs, and the government will be incurring an expenditure of Rs 12 crore for this initiative, an official press reklease informed
“These Youth clubs will be the nerve centres for all youth programs; community involvement; IEC, sports & cultural activities,” the LG said.
He said this while chairing the governing body meeting of Mission Youth at Civil Secretariat here, wherein approvals were accorded to a host of schemes to be launched soon in various sectors, which will make a greater impact on the youth engagement and livelihood generation programmes in the UT.
The meeting also decided to start two state-of-the-art coaching centres in Jammu and Srinagar to impart coaching for Civil Services and other competitive exams under PARVAAZ, a livelihood generation scheme.
The government, through Mission Youth, will provide financial assistance to dental surgeons to start their own clinic. In the first phase, 400 dental surgeons and 800 paramedics will be selected for a specially tailored self-employment scheme, the LG maintained.
Emphasizing on effective execution of the programme, he directed the concerned officers to put dedicated focus on effective implementation of youth-oriented schemes on-ground.
He also called for convergence and linkages of existing schemes with the proposed ones to yield better results.
“It is important to incorporate young generation’s perspective in government policy and ensure their participation and representation at all levels. Health, education, economy and employment are some of the key areas where young people can contribute for the sustainable development of the UT,” Sinha said.
Underlining the importance of market-driven training for youth of J&K, besides imparted soft skill training to the youngsters, the LG suggested for roping in reputed organizations/corporate houses, Centre for Invention, Innovation, Incubation and Training (CIIIT) at Baramulla and Jammu for up-skilling of the youth.
He asked the CEO Mission Youth to establish Mission Youth Centres with recreational facilities in Jammu and Srinagar, besides setting up digital libraries in coordination with the Education department in every district.
Directions were also passed for setting up one-stop facilitation centres for guiding youths regarding benefits of different schemes and establishment of District Youth Centres.
Stressing on the need to extend psycho-social support to the youth, the LG instructed for establishing Counseling Centres in eight districts, four in each division.
Laying special emphasis on the welfare of youth with disabilities, the LG directed for organizing mega camps in the UT. Under Mission Youth, 5000 youth with disabilities in age-group 18-35 will be covered and provided with access to existing schemes; skilling, connect with digital world, livelihood support, link-up with banking and financial institutions, he added.
For the promotion and development of community-based entrepreneurship, the LG set the target for the establishment of 50 Model Community Entrepreneur units during 2021-22.
Addressing the need for enhancing the skills of the youth in clinical management, directions were passed to train at least 1000 youths through various technical courses in the respective field.
Dr. Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, Chief Executive Officer, Mission Youth, highlighted the key features of the Annual Action Plan of Mission Youth for the Financial Year 2021-22.
He gave an overview of thrust areas of the plan, besides objectives, targets, and future course of action of the proposed schemes.
The CEO informed that under specially tailored self-employment scheme for empowerment of young women of J&K- TAJASWANI, 2000 young women will be facilitated to establish a sustainable livelihood. Besides, the extension of benefits under self-employment schemes like MUMKIN will be done for the benefit of the youth.
Under Recreation and Social Engagement, LG’s Rolling Trophy will be held in sports like Cricket and Football from block to UT level covering all 20 districts of J&K, it was informed.
