J&K entrepreneurs to get hassle-free loans

JAMMU, INDIA: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday gave his approval for 'Youth Start-Uo Loan Scheme' (YSLS) under the state's Sher-i-Kashmir Employment and Welfare Programme for Youth (SKEWPY) to increase employment opportunities for youth to set up business ventures.

A government spokesman said in a release that the approval was given in the fifth review meeting of SKEWPY here.

"The YSLS initiative under SKEWPY on the pattern of term-loan schemes of National Minorities Development and Financial Corporation (NMDFC) will make SKEWPY more inclusive and support entrepreneurs in an off-bank mode to get soft loans for launching self-employment ventures," the spokesman quoted Abdullah as saying.

The chief minister said that the initiative could be implemented with target cases of 100 each in Kashmir and Jammu divisions within a time frame of two months. He said that the initiative will provide opportunities to the budding entrepreneurs to get hassle-free and simple loans on lesser interest rates.

According to the spokesman, the chief minister was informed at the meeting that more than 2,808 cases for establishment of entrepreneurship units have been sanctioned during 2011. Out of these, 2,411 have received about Rs 70 crore financial assistance for launch of business.

The Jammu and Kashmir government had started SKEWPY, which mainly focused on stipends to the educated unemployed youth in the age group of 20-37 for generating employment and self-employment in December 2009.

Various kinds of grading has been done for the youth, who have studied upto class 10 and above. The monthly stipend would be Rs 500 to Rs 1,100 depending on the qualification of the candidates.

The government had come with this programme "to give a hope to the youth, feeling frustrated because of the shrinking chances of government employment".