A steering committee held here on Wednesday approved 341 cases of aspiring entrepreneurs sponsored by Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) under different schemes.
The 120th Steering Committee meeting of Seed Capital FundScheme (SCFS) and 64th meeting of Youth Startup Loan Scheme (YSLS) was heldunder the Chairmanship of Mr. SaurabhBhagat, IAS, Commissioner/Secretary,Labour& Employment Department here at Centre for Women Entrepreneurship,Kashmir (CWE-K), Press Enclave.
Those who participated in the meeting were TufailMattoo,Director JKEDI, YP Suman, Director Employment Department, Khurshid Ahmad Shah,Additional Secretary Labour& Employment, ShahidMehmood, Joint DirectorEmployment (Kashmir), Muhammad Maqbool, President (CBO), J&K Bank, MuhammadRafeeq, Assistant Director (Central) and Majid Manzoor Khan, Chief FacultyJKEDI.
District Nodal Officers of JKEDI from Kashmir division,Assistant Directors of the Employment Department (Kashmir division), Arif Khan,Regional Coordinator (Trainings) Kashmir and sectoral experts from the linedepartments were also present in the meeting.
A total of 341 cases were approved by the committee. Out of 271cases placed before the Committee, 270 cases were approved under Seed CapitalFund Scheme (SCFS) while 71 cases were approved under the Youth Startup LoanScheme (YSLS). Manufacturing of cricket balls, sanitary pads were some of theinnovative cases approved by the committee. Most of the cases of the aspirantshailing from remote areas of Kashmir division were approved so that they areable to start their ventures and earn livelihood.
The next Steering Committee meeting shall convene within afortnight.
During the meeting it was decided that more emphasis shallbe given to encourage women to start their entrepreneurial ventures, besidesfocus shall also be increased on High Employment Potential Sectors (HEPS) aswell as Agricultural and allied activities, Tourism under the Seed Capital FundScheme and Youth Startup Loan Scheme being implemented byJKEDI.
During the meeting, SaurabhBhagat, Commissioner/Secretary,Labour& Employment stressed that focus should be on the quality of unitsestablished so that it helps the State economy in the long run.