Abdul Haq meets JK youth in Bangalore undergoing training under Himayat

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BANGALORE, AUGUST 05: Minister for Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Law and Justice Abdul Haq, on the directions of Chief Minister, Ms Mehbooba Mufti, today visited Bangalore to get first hand appraisal of the facilities and training being provided  to the JK youth under Himayat Scheme (DDU-GKY).

Pertinently, the Minister had on July 17 this year flagged off from Srinagar the first batch of 61 youth for employment-guaranteed skill training under Himayat Scheme.

These youth including 11 girls and 50 boys  are being trained at Apollo MedSkills (One of the Project Implementing Agencies) at Bangalore.

The Minister was accompanied by Commissioner Secretary Rural Development Nirmal Sharma, Mission Director State Rural Livelihood Mission, Javaid Bakshi, CEO Apollo MedSkills, Dr Srinivasan, Vice President Apollo MedSkills Sridhar, Director National Institute of RDD&PR Hyderabad, SS Raju, Mission Director Karnataka State Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society Sushama Godbole, officials of J&K and Karnataka State Rural Livelihood Mission besides officials of the Apollo MedSkills.

Abdul Haq said Himayat is a skill development cum placement programme for unemployed youth in J&K under the umbrella of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gramin Koushalaya Yojana (DDU-GKY), Union Ministry of Rural Development with focus on sustainable employment for rural poor youth. He said JKSRLM has been entrusted with the responsibility of training and placing over 1.24 lakh JK youth with an allocation of Rs 1601.51 crore for a period of 3 years.

The Minister visited the lecture rooms, library and laboratories where students are getting trained as Dialysis Technicians and Emergency Medical Technicians. Officials at the institution briefed the Minister about the training being imparted and the facilities being provided to the students.

While interacting with the Minister, the students expressed satisfaction over the facilities being provided to them and also put forth some grievances which were resolved on the spot. The Minister also visited classrooms and attended lecturers being delivered by the trainers to the students.

The trainers and the teaching staff at the Apollo MedSkills informed the minister that the batch from J&K state is one of the finest batches as the students are very talented, responsive and intelligent.

Abdul Haq said Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti launched the remodeled Himayat scheme earlier this year with an aim to train the unemployed youth in different sectors so that they get employment at the earliest. He said around three projects have been sanctioned by JKSRLM. He said 9751 candidates are to be covered in the present round of four project applications and that first installment has been released to the PIAs including Surya, Apollo and Manpower for the mobilization of candidates which is under progress.

Later Abdul Haq along with Karnataka Minister for RDD HK Patil met students from J&K who are studying in various colleges of Karnataka. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Patil said the students of Kashmir are guests of the Karnataka government and it will ensure their safety and security during their stay in the state. He said the students should not feel that they are away from the home as they are equal citizens of the nation and are a part of our family.

Mr Patil assured the minister that he will act as the guardian and the care-taker of the Kashmiri students to ensure that they feel at home during their stay in Karnataka. He asked the students and the officials to directly contact him in case they need any assistance from the Karnataka government.

While addressing the students, Abdul Haq asked them to dedicate their precious time in studies and asked them to interact with the local students to know about diverse cultures of the country that will help in bridging the gaps and help in removing the stereotypes.

Castigating certain sections of electronic media, the Minister said unfortunately some media channels are hell bent to portray Kashmir in a negative way by blowing minor issues out of proportion. He appealed media to be part of the solution, instead of fueling trouble, by facilitating in bridging the gap thereby connecting people and helping in addressing the alienation of Kashmiri youth.