Srinagar, Aug 05: Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo on Tuesday underscored the urgent need to consolidate all employment-related schemes onto a single online platform to ensure seamless service delivery and minimise manual intervention. “Only empowered committees should be entrusted with the approval of applications, thereby eliminating scope for unilateral decision-making,” the CS said while chairing a high-level meeting to review the performance and impact of employment generation schemes across Jammu and Kashmir. The meeting was attended by the Principal Secretary, Agriculture Production Department; Principal Secretary, Finance; Commissioner Secretary, Social Welfare; Commissioner Secretary, Cooperatives; Secretary, Labour & Employment Department; Director Employment and all Deputy Commissioners who joined virtually. In-depth deliberations were held to enhance the effectiveness, transparency and reach of self-employment initiatives. Highlighting the critical role of financial institutions, the Chief Secretary directed the departments to strengthen bank linkages, particularly under schemes implemented by the Women Development Corporation (WDC). He also emphasised the importance of focusing on interest subvention components by the departments to ease the financial burden on the beneficiaries. Dulloo observed that it is imperative that transparency remains the cornerstone of all self-employment schemes. He added that outcome-based assessment must be conducted regularly to evaluate real-time impact at the grassroots level. The meeting included a detailed review of flagship schemes such as Self Help Group (Umeed), Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), J&K Rural Employment Generation Programme (JKREGP) and Mission Youth initiatives like Mumkin, Tejaswini and Spurring Entrepreneurship. The CS noted the issue of overlapping mandates among schemes like JKREGP and Mission Youth. He called for greater coordination and data standardisation for effective monitoring. The meeting expressed concern over the high Non-Performing Asset (NPA) ratios in non-bank-supported schemes, particularly those being run by the J&K SC, ST & BC Development Corporation and JKWDC, with some NPAs reported as high as 45%. The need for tighter credit discipline and recovery mechanisms was emphasised. The key suggestions put forward during the meeting included the development of a single digital interface for the beneficiaries to access and apply for all self-employment schemes. Introduction of a common application form that can auto-suggest suitable schemes based on applicant data was another suggestion deliberated in the meeting. The Chief Secretary urged all the departments to work in synergy, optimise resource allocation, and bring about a transparent, inclusive and result-driven self-employment ecosystem across J&K.
