9,266 merchants digitally connected, 36,474 trained, youth enterprise accelerated across J&K
SRINAGAR, SEPTEMBER 09: The Apex Committee of Mission YUVA (Youth Upliftment and Vibrant Advancement) met under Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, and reviewed the milestones achieved since the last Committee meeting held in May 2026, with particular focus on the four broad dimensions of the Mission including Culture, Capital, Capacity, and Connectivity through digital commerce and market access.
The meeting, as per an official statement, was attended by Additional Chief Secretary, Finance; Managing Director, J&K Bank; Commissioner Secretary, Planning; Commissioner Secretary, Industries & Commerce Department; Director, IIM Jammu; Commissioner Secretary, Education; Secretary, Rural Development Department; Managing Director, JKRLM; representatives from Universities, SKUAST, NABARD and other key stakeholders. Deputy Commissioners from all districts participated in the deliberations through video conferencing.
Reviewing the progress, the Chief Secretary took a detailed appraisal of the Mission’s performance across its various components and underscored the importance of sustaining the momentum generated on the ground.
He emphasised the need for close coordination among departments, financial institutions, training institutions and field-level functionaries to ensure that the expanding application base translates into viable and sustainable enterprises, meaningful employment opportunities and long-term economic empowerment of the youth.
The Chief Secretary also reviewed the district-wise progress through the Deputy Commissioners and stressed the importance of continued field mobilisation, effective handholding of applicants, timely processing of cases and stronger convergence among the institutions associated with Mission YUVA.
He called for maintaining the focus on women and youth participation, strengthening the training and mentorship ecosystem and leveraging digital platforms to expand market access for locally created products and services.
The Apex Committee also reviewed the institutional mechanisms put in place for field-level implementation and took stock of the emerging requirements for further strengthening the Mission’s delivery architecture.
The Chief Secretary appreciated the progress achieved since the May review and called for continued efforts to convert the Mission’s growing outreach into sustainable enterprises, stronger entrepreneurial ecosystems and wider livelihood opportunities for the youth across Jammu and Kashmir.
Presenting the latest progress, Secretary, Skill Development Department, Kumar Rajeev Ranjan, highlighted the substantial expansion of the Mission’s footprint since the previous review, noting that the programme has continued to gain traction at both the institutional and grassroots levels.
He apprised the meeting that under the mission youth mobilisation continued gaining momentum with female participation rising sharply. He revealed that under the Cultural Mobilisation and Public Awareness component, the average daily application intake has increased by 39 per cent over the last three months, rising from 280 to 390 applications per day.
A particularly significant feature has been the growing participation of women with female-led applications increasing by 76 per cent, from 91 to 160 applications per day, while 78 per cent of all female applications are being driven by Self-Help Groups (SHGs). Sustained field-level awareness has consequently increased the overall female share of applications from 27 per cent to 31 per cent.
The Mission’s mass youth mobilisation campaign (Yuva Jagriti 5.0) has so far reached 88,300 individuals, marking a 42 per cent increase since the last Apex review.
It was also divulged that the ongoing Business Hackathons, launched on August 15, 2026, have also emerged as a major platform for entrepreneurial mobilisation, reaching 18,000 students across more than 255 educational institutions. More than 1,300 innovative business ideas have already been generated, with the campaign continuing until September 16, 2026.
Additionally it was highlighted that the total application intake has increased by 37 per cent, rising from 1,04,067 on May 15 to 1,42,196 as on September 7, 2026. SBDU verifications have risen by 34 per cent to 80,965, while DLIC approvals have increased by 39 per cent to 75,791.
Moreover the loan sanctions have grown by 53 per cent, reaching ₹1,992 crore across 37,171 sanctioned accounts, while disbursements have reached ₹1,826 crore across 32,665 accounts, also registering 53 per cent growth.
The meeting was informed that commercial banks are presently processing around 2,800 applications every month, while the final sanction rate has recovered strongly from 23 per cent in July to 40 per cent in August, indicating improved processing efficiency and conversion across the financial funnel.
The programme has simultaneously translated financial support into actual enterprise creation, with 13,597 new enterprises now fully operational across J&K, representing a 58 per cent surge since May. Another 6,777 enterprises are currently in the Work-In-Progress (WIP) stage, with WIP report submissions increasing by 70 per cent.
The Mission has also witnessed a substantial expansion in its Capacity Building and Business Mentorship component as the trained individuals has increased by 73 per cent since the last review, with 36,474 student/entrepreneur certifications completed so far.
The mentorship framework has recorded an especially notable expansion, with enterprise mentorship completion increasing seven-fold (700 per cent) since the previous review. As many as 2,645 entrepreneurs have been mentored by 482 onboarded mentors, strengthening the handholding ecosystem for emerging entrepreneurs beyond the initial stages of enterprise establishment.
The number of J&K merchant storefronts onboarded on the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) has grown by an extraordinary 329 per cent since May, reaching 9,266 digital stores.
Significantly, 2,067 dedicated Mission YUVA youth stores have now been fully onboarded on ONDC, providing young entrepreneurs, including those from rural and semi-urban areas, direct access to the national digital marketplace.
It is needless to say that the Mission YUVA, through its integrated approach to mobilisation, finance, skills, mentorship and market connectivity, is emerging as a comprehensive platform for enabling young people of J&K to move from aspiration to enterprise and from enterprise to sustainable livelihood.
