Sinha reviews status of self employment schemes

Jammu, Nov 15: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has set the target of two lakh cases for the UT administration for sanctioning and financing under self employment schemes Monday, while reviewing the status of self employment schemes with Secretaries and senior bank officials, here at Civil Secretariat.
While chairing the meeting, the Lt Governor issued directions for the skill development department to utilize cutting edge technology to fulfill the real time needs of the Industry.
The Lt Governor said that SC, ST, OBC and women entrepreneurs should be given special focus in the self-employment schemes. He further asked the DCs to ensure the saturation of social security schemes and basic amenities, especially in far-flung and border areas.
The Lt Governor has asked the Banks to lay out uniform criteria for ensuring that no deserving candidate is denied the financial inclusion benefits due to trivial reasons. He directed them to designate nodal officers who will ensure the timely disposal of loans to the beneficiaries of employment generation schemes.
Impressing upon the Secretaries of concerned departments and Deputy Commissioners to saturate the coverage of various schemes including KCC, Mudra, Fasal Bima Yojana and others, the Lt Governor said that departmental coordination and involvement of all stakeholders including Banks, Cooperatives, Departments of Skill Development, and Labour and Employment is imperative for achieving the desired results of benefitting the common man of the UT.
The Lt Governor reiterated his directions of identifying minimum five youth from each panchayat for skill development and hand holding, with dedicated focus on the border and remote areas of the UT.
Expressing dismay over the low CD ratio of Banks, the Lt Governor issued strict directions to the heads of respective banks to increase their CD to more than the minimum benchmark of 40%.
He asked the Commissioner/Secretary, Planning, Development and Monitoring Department to regularly collect data from the banks and coordinate with them so as to ensure optimum available opportunities to the unemployed youth. He further directed for developing a common dashboard for monitoring the process and ensuring that all the benefits of intended self employment schemes are extended to the grassroot level.
The Lt Governor also issued instructions for the marketing and forward linkages for finished handicraft and other local products.
Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the Lt Governor; Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary; Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department; RK Chibber, Chairman JK Bank; Administrative Secretaries, Deputy commissioners, besides senior officers from RBI, SBI, NABARD, PNB and other Banks, and UT administration attended the meeting in person and through video conferencing.