Srinagar, Sep 29 (KNS): More than one lakh applications have been received under Mission YUVA in Jammu and Kashmir, with 36,077 cases sanctioned and 32,156 loans disbursed by banks, the government has said in the Legislative Assembly.
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‎According to Labour and Employment Department, 1,00,407 applications had been received under the scheme as on August 31, 2026. Loans worth Rs 1,996 crore were sanctioned, while Rs 1,769 crore had been disbursed to beneficiaries.
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‎The reply was submitted in response to a question by BJP MLA Surjit Singh Slathia on unemployment in Jammu and Kashmir.
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‎The government said unemployment remains a major challenge and that the Labour and Employment Department was taking steps to improve employability, create employment opportunities and promote self-employment among youth.
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‎Under Mission YUVA, the government is focusing on enterprise creation, credit support, subsidy and interest support, market linkages, skill development and other measures to help young people start and expand businesses.
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‎The government said 5.50 lakh potential entrepreneurs had been identified across Jammu and Kashmir through a baseline survey. The mission aims to facilitate the establishment of 1.37 lakh new enterprises and generate more than 4.25 lakh employment opportunities.
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‎It said 20 Small Business Development Units have been established across districts and 82 Business Help Desks at the sub-division level to help applicants prepare project reports, access credit and receive mentoring.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel
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‎The department also said more than 36,000 training completions had been recorded through 295 training institutions, while 477 mentors had been onboarded and 2,500 applicants had completed structured enterprise mentoring.
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‎The reply showed that 80,052 applications came from rural areas, while 18,969 applications were received from women applicants. Around 96 per cent of applications were related to small or nano units, with more than 11,000 applications coming from agriculture and allied sectors.
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‎Apart from Mission YUVA, the government said 7,755 youth had benefited from the Mumkin, Tejaswini and Spurring Entrepreneurship Innovative (SEI) schemes since their inception. Of these, 5,130 benefited under Mumkin, 1,823 under Tejaswini and 802 under SEI.
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‎However, the government said it currently has no proposal to provide a monthly stipend or allowance to unemployed youth, citing the financial position and resource constraints of the Union Territory.
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‎It said eligible candidates undergoing three-month skill development courses are provided a stipend of Rs 1,000 per month, subject to prescribed conditions, with a maximum of Rs 3,000 for the entire training period.
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‎The government said the skill courses are designed according to market demand and are aimed at improving the employability and self-employment prospects of unemployed youth across Jammu and Kashmir.(KNS)
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