Jammu- Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday said Jammu and Kashmir requires a push for start-ups to change the “sarkari naukri” mindset of the youth.
“Amid a startup revolution across the country, the ‘sarkari naukri’ (government job) mindset of the Jammu and Kashmir youth could prove to be an impediment,” he said.
Addressing a two-day youth conclave organised by the Indian Institute Of Integrative Medicine after its inauguration, Singh said the successful launch of Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya L-1 has sparked global aspirations among Indian students.
“…this generation has aspirations in abundance and avenues in tons, with numerous opportunities knocking at their doors in the form of start-ups which are now the engine of economic growth,” the minister said.
Hailing the new National Education Policy as one of the revolutionary steps taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Singh said it supplements the start-up ecosystem, promises new careers and entrepreneurship opportunities for students and the youth.
He said the provision of multiple entry and exit options is something to be cherished as this academic flexibility will have a positive impact on students seeking to avail different career opportunities at different times depending upon their intrinsic learning and inherent aptitude.
Noting that one of the objectives of the policy is delinking degrees from education, Singh said linking degrees with education has taken a heavy toll on the education system and society as well.
“One of the fallouts has been an increasing number of educated unemployed,” he said.
In the nine years of the Narendra Modi government, the minister said, apart from formal jobs, lakhs of opportunities and avenues have been created outside the government sector for the youth of the country, be it start-up policy, Mudra Scheme or PM SVANidhi.
“This is all evident now that with the unlocking of the space sector by the prime minister in June 2020, the number of space start-ups sky-rocketed from merely four to 150 and most of them being led by science students, researchers and entrepreneurs,” he said.
Singh said there were just around 350 start-ups before 2014, but after Modi gave the clarion call from the ramparts of the Red Fort in his Independence Day address and after rolling out a special start-up scheme in 2016, there has been a quantum jump with over 1.25 lakh start-ups now with more than 110 unicorns.
“Similarly, in the biotech sector, from 50 odd start-ups in 2014, we now have 6,000 start-ups,” he said.
IIIM Director Zabeer Ahmad said the institute endeavours to promote start-up and entrepreneurship ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir and this youth conclave is a part of the initiative.
IIIM-Jammu is a constituent institution of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).