Working towards the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jammu and Kashmir government led by the Lieutenant Governor has taken many steps both small and big to bring the valley’s people closer to the government.
According to a statement, after 2019, J-K has witnessed profound ameliorative, affirmative and progressive changes in the last four years encompassing its entire governance — including development activities, public administration and security matters. “Besides this, Jammu and Kashmir have witnessed a sharp decline in unemployment, and a drastic improvement in employment”, a press release said. With sustainable and inclusive development initiatives taken by the Modi government, the citizens in Jammu and Kashmir believe that the government after the abrogation of Article-70 has taken various initiatives to bring down unemployment by implementing various self-employment schemes through different departments.
“A number of self-employment schemes like Mission Youth, Rural Livelihood Mission, Himayat, PMEGP, Avsar, Tejaswani are being implemented for providing employment opportunities,” said Mansoor Ahmad, a local resident of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
He added that the government is making a significant thrust to ensure better infrastructural facilities for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The New Industrial Development Scheme, with an outlay of Rs 28,400 crore, has been approved by the Government of India for encouraging investment in manufacturing and service sectors in J&K, which will help in stepping up economic development in Jammu and Kashmir.
The identification of vacancies in the Government and recruitment is a continuous and ongoing process. The same is taken up under Accelerated Recruitment Drive.
The government has encouraged youngsters to take up dairy farming to earn their livelihoods.
Wasim Anayat (29), a milk farming entrepreneur from north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, has more than two dozen animals and he sells more than 200 litres of milk every day. Another youth Abid Hussain is also doing dairy farming.
“Daily farming had been going on in Baramulla for a long time. People here took dairy farming as an opportunity. A large number of people started dairy farming here. The women here came to the forefront of this task,” said an official from Animal Husbandry Department.
The J&K administration is putting in dedicated efforts to fill in the gaps between policies and implementation. Basic needs like electricity, toilet, drinking water, LPG connection and other facilities for all are being met through a convergence of different government schemes.
Jammu and Kashmir contribute to 16.18 per cent of the GDP, of which the dairy sector constitutes more than one-third. The region offers huge scope for the promotion of the dairy sector and the government is exploring that potential. Nearly 80 per cent of the J-K population lives in rural areas and about 60 per cent of the revenue is generated by the agriculture and animal husbandry sector.
The Government of Jammu and Kashmir has carried out several governance reforms, including in the area of recruitment in Government. After the abrogation of Article 370, a large-scale recruitment drive has been carried out and the Government of Jammu and Kashmir has filled 29,295 vacancies. Recruiting agencies have advertised 7924 vacancies and examinations in respect of 2504 vacancies have been conducted.
People believe that Government has undertaken significant steps towards employment generation schemes in J&K.
“People have become equal stakeholders in peace and development. People now want to move ahead and prosper. They are positive that there will be a positive impact on the economy of Jammu and Kashmir in the coming time,” Naveed Ahmad, a local journalist said.