Dr. Jitendra Singh calls for StartUp awareness campaign in J&K

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh on Sunday called for a StartUp awareness campaign in Jammu & Kashmir so that a host of incentives and schemes rolled out over the last 11 years by the Modi government could benefit the youth.

Addressing the Lead Impact Conclave here, Dr Jitendra Singh said it’s a myth that StartUps are meant only for big cities. On the contrary, he said, almost 50% of India’s StartUps come from Tyre 2 and 3 towns but unfortunately Jammu does not figure in that list. The question is when youth across the country are benefitting, why can’t the youth here avail of benefits which are accessible online.

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Dr Jitendra Singh called for holding workshops for this purpose using social media handles. Also, what is required is liberation from the ‘Sarkari Naukri’ mindset, he said.

The minister said that the government has created an enabling ecosystem for StartUps to boost their ventures and propel the Indian economy. As a result, Startups have emerged as a lucrative and sustainable source of livelihood. He stressed the importance of industry linkages and private sector involvement, saying both are imperative for sustainable start ups and sustainable economic growth of India.

Dr Jitendra Singh said with one lakh seventy thousand StartUps, India ranks 3rd in the world. He highlighted that about 60 thousand of these StartUps are led by women who have become successful entrepreneurs.

He further said that the Purple Revolution born in J&K is a shining example of success of agri startups run by the youth. States like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh have drawn inspiration from this revolution, taking up lavender cultivation on a large scale to offer alternate and sustainable sources of livelihood to the youth and free them from the mindset of government jobs.

He noted that the youth engaged in StartUps are earning in lakhs and are creating employment opportunities for others.

Noting that 50 per cent of the startups are in tier 2 and 3 cities and towns, such as Surat, Vijayawada, Kanpur etc., he pitched for research on futuristic themes which would be relevant in coming years. The next revolution would be bio-driven.

Dr Jitendra Singh said it is with this objective that the government unveiled the National Education Policy to equip the youth with right skills and training to make them future ready.