Over 1 lakh applications received under Mission Yuva, Rs 1,769 cr disbursed: Govt

Srinagar, Sep 29: The Jammu and Kashmir government has said that 1,00,407 applications have been received under Mission YUVA as of August 31, 2026, of which 36,077 have been sanctioned and 32,156 disbursed by banks, involving credit disbursement of Rs 1,769 crore.
The information was provided by the Labour & Employment Department in response to a starred question raised by MLA Surjit Singh Slathia (Samba) regarding unemployment and the measures being taken by the government to address the issue.
The department, said the government has been taking various measures to enhance employability, facilitate employment opportunities and promote self-employment among youth.
The Labour & Employment Department is presently implementing Mission YUVA (Yuva Udyami Vikas Abhiyan) , aimed at promoting entrepreneurship, self-employment and sustainable livelihood opportunities among youth.
Under Mission YUVA, interventions are being undertaken for enterprise development, credit enablement, subsidy/interest subvention, market linkage, capacity building and ecosystem creation.
The department further said it is facilitating skill development training through District Employment & Counselling Centres (DECCs) across districts to enhance employability and job-readiness of unemployed youth.
As per the reply, 5.50 lakh-plus potential entrepreneurs have been identified across Jammu and Kashmir through a data-driven baseline survey involving door-to-door enumeration of households and registered and unregistered enterprises.
The outreach covered approximately 3 lakh rural women, 50,000 youth and more than 20,000 potential entrepreneurs through targeted campaigns.
The Mission envisages facilitating establishment of 1.37 lakh-plus new enterprises and generation of 4.25 lakh-plus employment opportunities.
Agriculture and allied sectors account for approximately 21 per cent of the applications received.
The government said 1,00,407 applications had been received under Mission YUVA, with loans worth Rs 1,996 crore sanctioned, of which Rs 1,769 crore was disbursed to 32,156 beneficiaries. It added that 3,003 enterprises were financed and more than Rs 100 crore was disbursed in a single day, contributing to the crossing of the Rs 1,000-crore disbursement milestone.
Of the total applications, 77,850 were verified by SBDUs, 70,114 were sent to banks, 36,077 were sanctioned and 32,156 were disbursed.
An Agri Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme has also been launched to facilitate collateral-free credit of up to Rs 10 lakh, with 85 per cent guarantee coverage.
The department said 20 Small Business Development Units (SBDUs) have been established across all districts, besides 82 Business Help Desks (BHDs) at the sub-division level. As on August 31, 2026, 1,322 positions under the Institutional Business Support Mechanism had been filled.
A network of 295 training institutions has been created with 403 active trainers, and more than 36,000 training completions have been recorded. As many as 477 mentors have been onboarded, while 2,500 applicants have completed structured enterprise mentorship.
The government said 18,969 applications were received from women applicants, while among the cases disbursed, 759 pertained to women belonging to Self-Help Groups. A total of 80,052 applications were received from rural areas. 96 per cent of applications pertained to small/nano units.
A further 7,755 youth have benefited under the Mumkin, Tejaswini and Spurring Entrepreneurship Innovative (SEI) schemes since their inception.
Responding to whether the government intends to provide a monthly stipend to unemployed youth, the department said there is presently no such proposal, keeping in view the overall financial position and resource constraints of the Union Territory.
However, the Labour & Employment Department provides a stipend of Rs 1,000 per month to eligible candidates undergoing Skill Development Courses of three months’ duration, subject to prescribed terms and conditions. (KNO)