Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 31: Chief Secretary, Madhav Lal today reiterated Government resolve to create an environment conducive to entrepreneurship and MSME development.
“We want to promote entrepreneurship and reduce fear of failure”, he said, adding that fostering development of a flourishing entrepreneurial culture among the youth is vital for the progress of the State.
Chairing the Governing Body meeting of Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI), Chief Secretary said that JKEDI is providing a pro-entrepreneurship environment by removing barriers and assisting youth through training and capability development and facilitating them to obtain clearances and easy access to finances.
The Chief Secretary asked JKEDI to utilize IT initiatives to create an inbuilt monitoring mechanism for assessing the status and progress of units being executed by entrepreneurs.
“Innovative ideas and success stories in entrepreneurship should be recognized and awarded to create a competitive environment amongst the young and budding entrepreneurs of the State”, he said, adding that Institution of Annual JKEDI Entrepreneurship Awards will be a step forward towards recognizing extra-ordinary talent and achievement.
Director J&KEDI Dr. M.I Parray briefed the Governing body about the progress and performance of the institute. He said that the institute has organized 190 Entrepreneurship Awareness Programmes (EAPs), 65 Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDPs) and 9 Entrepreneurship Orientation Programmes (EOPs) during the current financial year ending December.
He informed the meeting that an innovative and comprehensive training plan for literate adults with no business experience and for those who intend to upscale their enterprises is being provided at the institute. The programme, he said creates real life business scenarios through simulations and experimental learning methods.
Giving further details, Dr. Parray said that under Seed Capital Fund scheme of SKEWPY where a target of 5000 units has been fixed for a period of five years, against the target of 1000 units for current financial year, the institute has till date released Seed Money amounting to Rs. 33.2 crore in respect of 985 enterprises involving 1026 entrepreneurs. He said that the institute has taken up 700 more cases in the process of disbursement to cover the entire backlog of last two years during this current financial year.
“Under the Youth Start-up Loan Scheme of SKEWPY, being implemented on pilot basis with a target to facilitate establishment of 100 enterprises in the State”, he said that an amount of Rs 8 crore has been approved by the Government out of which Rs 2 crore has been released so far.
The Governing Body meeting also reviewed the progress under National Minority Development Finance Corporation scheme, implementation of 10 Handicraft Based Clusters in and around Srinagar, capacity building for the staff and upgradation of the curriculum etc.
Financial Commissioner, Finance, M. I. Khandey, Commissioner Secretary Industries and Commerce, Shant Manu, Commissioner Secretary Agriculture, Shaleen Kabra, Commissioner Secretary Rural Development, Farooq Ahmad Peer, Commissioner Secretary Labour and Employment, Yedullah, Director EDI of India, Dr. Dinesh Awashthi, Advisor and Head National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship, Dr. H. K. Mittal and other senior officer were present in the meeting.
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