On 24th January, Jammu and Kashmir created history by giving entrepreneurship and self-employment opportunities to a staggering 94,680 young people, in a single day. According to an official release, the authorisation letters were handed out during an event headed by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha two days prior to Republic Day.
LG Sinha announced, “Today, J&K creates a new record by distributing sanction letters to set up new units and startups that will fulfil dreams of youth and their aspiration of being a job creator and not a job seeker. This also marks a significant leap forward in transforming the Union Territory’s economic landscape.”
On this particular occasion, LG Sinha congratulated the Jammu & Kashmir Bank for their efforts to uplift the Ghar Ghar KCC (Kisan Credit Card) Abhiyaan and Swarojgar Utsav, two ongoing projects that aim to provide financial empowerment to youth and farmers. According to him, J&K Bank serves as the bank of the average person and plays a significant role in advancing the interests of the average person.
All of the panchayats in the J&K Union Territory are included in the Swarojgar Utsav which supports self-employment and entrepreneurship. The LG noted that J&K Bank has endorsed the initiative by providing Rs 1,384 crore to establish new units and startups. He further highlighted the successes in the Union Territory’s Kisan Credit Card saturation rate.
About two lakh farmers received Kisan Credit Cards as part of the Ghar Ghar KCC Abhiyaan to guarantee they have access to credit that is appropriate, dependable, and reasonably priced. LG Sinha remarked, “I see a new revolution is underway in the agriculture and allied sector that will construct new pathways for the prosperity of Jammu Kashmir.”
He praised the bank’s contribution to social development projects in the Union Territory as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives but stressed the potential for input credit in the MSME (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Development Institute) and agriculture sectors to assist youth and farmers in creating job opportunities in addition to achieving self-sufficiency.
The LG gave the J&K Bank instructions to reach saturation in Stand-Up India, Startups, and Ghar Ghar KCC Abhiyaan. “We have a lot of expectations from J&K Bank and I expect the bank to devise campaigns to take financial literacy programs to a vast portion of the population. Under ‘Back to Village’ and ‘My Town My Pride’ programs, the banks must strive to achieve the envisaged target for extension of financial assistance to enterprising youth.”
He urged the Union Territory’s banks, particularly the J&K Bank, to make sure that people-friendly programs that create job and livelihood opportunities “not only for the beneficiaries but those associated with them as well” are implemented in order to meet the needs of women, youth, and farmers.
During the event, the LG gave insurance claim settlement cheques to the surviving family members of the government workers who passed away and were insured by the bank’s Group Personal Accidental Insurance. He also congratulated farmers and successful business owners who had received bank financing. Furthermore, he introduced the Agriculture Production Department’s farmer-friendly AI-based Kisan Sathi Chatbot. An additional Rs 40.27 lakh was provided to the chatbot application by J&K Bank.
The representatives of Srinagar Smart City and Jammu Smart City, respectively, received two cheques totalling Rs 3.84 crore and Rs 3.35 crore from J&K Bank’s CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) program for the construction of passenger sheds and e-bus bays.
On this occasion, two corporate films with the themes of “Ghar-Ghar KCC Abhiyaan” and “Swarojgar Utsav” as well as the bank’s CSR efforts were screened.
