Srinagar, Mar 12: The Jammu and Kashmir government has no plans to revive the Self Help Group of Engineers Scheme, which was aimed at providing livelihood opportunities to unemployed engineers.
This was stated in a written reply by the government to a question raised by Hilal Akbar Lone in the Legislative Assembly’s second session of 2025.
The Self Help Group of Engineers Scheme was first introduced in 2003 by the Labour and Employment Department to help unemployed engineers earn a livelihood. Under this scheme, engineers were grouped together and given 30% of construction projects from various government departments and agencies. However, after reviewing the scheme, the government decided to discontinue it.
The reply said that a committee was formed to examine the impact of the scheme, and it was found that its objectives had not been met. As a result, the proposal to end the reservation of 30% of government projects for SHGs was sent to the Administrative Council for approval.
The Administrative Council, in its meeting on August 4, 2020, approved the decision, and a formal order (Government Order No. 752-JK(GAD) of 2020) was issued on August 10, 2020, ending the reservation of projects for SHGs.
Later, in response to representations seeking the scheme’s restoration, a High-Level Committee was formed in September 2020 to review the decision. The committee examined the issue in consultation with the Finance Department and found that reserving projects for SHGs violated the General Financial Rules (GFR-2017) and other regulations that ensure open competition in government contracts.
The reply further said that for best execution of government projects, contractors must meet certain eligibility criteria, such as experience, financial solvency, technical staff, and required machinery. However, the SHGs did not fulfill these criteria, making their exclusive reservation inappropriate and impractical.
