(a) whether the Government has conducted/proposes to conduct any survey to ascertain the number of unemployed youths in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K);
(b) if so, the details and the findings thereof;
(c) whether the Government proposes to open consultancy centres to provide consultancy to unemployed youths in J&K and if so, the details thereof; and
(d) the other steps taken/being taken by the Government to provide more and better employment opportunities in J&K?
MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
(SHRI BANDARU DATTATREYA)
(a) to (c): As per the result of the recent survey conducted by Labour Bureau during 2013-14, the estimated unemployment rate among youths in the age group of 18-29 years on usual status basis in Jammu & Kashmir was 19.2%.
Government has implemented the National Career Service (NCS) Project comprises a digital portal that provides a nation-wide online platform for jobseekers and employers for job matching in a dynamic, efficient and responsive manner and has a repository of career content. The NCS Project also involves setting up of 100 Model Career Centres (MCCs) in collaboration with States and other institutions to provide information on employment opportunities which includes three centres in Jammu & Kashmir at Srinagar, Leh and Samba.
(d): Government has taken various steps for generating employment in the country including Jammu & Kashmir like encouraging private sector of economy, fast tracking various projects involving substantial investment and increasing public expenditure on schemes like Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) run by Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA), Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) scheme run by Ministry of Rural Development and National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) run by Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation.
Further a new scheme “Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana” has been initiated by the Ministry of Labour and Employment in the year 2016-17 for incentivising industry for promoting employment generation and Rs. 1000 crores has been allocated for this purpose. Under this scheme employers would be provided an incentive to enhance employment by reimbursing their 8.33% EPS contribution made to new employees.
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