'Mission Youth' transforms lives of J-K youth, bags PM's award for innovations

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], April 24 : Jammu and Kashmir's 'Mission Youth' made it to the highest civil services awards based on outstanding achievements over the past two years.
Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi conferred the coveted Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Public Administration which was received by the J-K Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, who was accompanied by Chief Executive Officer Mission Youth Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, on the occasion of Civil Services Day held in New Delhi.
J-K 'Mission Youth' was selected for the honour by the Empowered Committee headed by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba. J-K qualified for a multi-staged evaluation and selection process held over the past six months.
According to a report, the J-K 'Mission Youth' bagged the top position in over 600 nominations from across all the States and Union Territories in the Innovation (State) category.
"It was selected for innovations leading to the empowerment of youth in J-K which included schemes in education, skilling, coaching, volunteerism and effective use of technology for very transparent and effective service delivery," the report said.
More than 61,000 youth have benefited under schemes and close to 5 lakh youth were engaged over the past two years.
The flagship initiative of the government 'Mission Youth' has transformed the lives of the youth in Jammu and Kashmir post abrogation of Article 370, a temporary provision in the Constitution.
"'Mission Youth' has succeeded in turning J-K youth into ambassadors of innovation, peace and development through systematic interventions for youth engagement and outreach under six domains including livelihood generation, education/skill development, financial assistance, counselling/theory, sports and recreation," it said.
After August 5, 2019--when the Centre announced its decision to abrogate J-K's special status and bifurcate it into two Union Territories--the idea of 'Mission Youth' was conceived and J-K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha implemented it.
The concept of the 'Mission Youth' revolved around meeting the aspirations of youth to eke out a decent living for themselves and their families. The administration through 'Mission Youth' took numerous steps to engage the youth by creating infrastructure, and introducing schemes and policies to expedite their socio-economic development.
Pertinently, nearly J-K's 70 per cent population comprises youth who are below 35 years of age.
The aim was to provide a platform for holistic implementation of all youth engagement and outreach initiatives and to bring the interests and empowerment of youth to the centre of policy making.
After 2019, the government has made every possible attempt to channel the energies of youth in a positive manner and 'Mission Youth' has played an essential role in it.
'Mission Youth' has worked towards addressing the concern of youth by helping them to become self-reliant by introducing various self-employment schemes. It has tried to address financial insecurity and distress among the youth.
These initiatives have worked as the youth of J-K, especially Kashmir, do not indulge in stone-pelting or street protests any more. They are not joining terrorist ranks as the local recruitment in Pakistan-sponsored terror groups has dropped down to zero in the past three years.
The 'Mission Youth' bagging the top position is a rare feat as in a short span of over two years it has emerged as the cornerstone of J-K's development.
The youth-centric initiatives have led to them becoming equal stakeholders in the peace, prosperity and development of Jammu and Kashmir.
Notably, Mission Youth has been picked up by the Capacity Building Commission of India in collaboration with Harvard Business School for inclusion in courses of top management and public policy schools.
Major initiatives of the 'Mission Youth' include Mumkin, Tejaswini - for women, Parvaz (Graduate): UPSC Coaching, Parvaz (XII): NEET/JEE coaching, Rise Together, Tourist Village Scheme, Spurring Entrepreneurship, Protsahan, LG Super-75 (Girls and Boys), LG Rolling Trophy in sports, Know-India Love-India: Bharat Darshan, Skill Development courses scheme, Youth Innovation Scheme, SAHAYETA: youth with disabilities, Scheme for youth in distress: Psycho-Social counselling and Hausla among others.