SRINAGAR: In a major push to rural entrepreneurship and sustainable livelihoods, the Jammu and Kashmir Government has accorded in-principle approval to six Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) worth ₹36 crore under the Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP), aimed at promoting non-farm enterprises across the Union Territory.
The approval was granted during a meeting of the UT-Level Steering Committee (Non-Farm Livelihoods) under the Jammu and Kashmir Rural Livelihoods Mission (JKRLM), chaired by Secretary, Rural Development Department and Panchayati Raj, Mohammad Aijaz Asad, on Saturday.
The approved DPRs cover six new SVEP blocks — Sogam-Wavoora, Pulwama-Litter, Chadoora-Surasyar, Khour-Paragwal, Pouni-Reasi and Bhadarwah-Bhalla — where more than 12,000 non-farm enterprises are expected to be established over the next four years.
The meeting was attended by Mission Director, JKRLM, Dr. Shubhra Sharma; Chief Operating Officer, HIMAYAT, Rajneesh Gupta; and representatives from the Forest, Ecology and Environment Department, Tribal Affairs Department, Social Welfare Department, Handicrafts and Handloom Department, Industries and Commerce Department, MSME, KVIC, NABARD, RSETIs, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), and other stakeholder institutions.
Officials informed the committee that Jammu and Kashmir has been implementing SVEP since 2015-16 with technical support from National Resource Organisation (NRO) partners, including EDII. The programme began in the pilot blocks of Lar in Ganderbal district and Basohli in Kathua district, where nearly 2,500 entrepreneurs were supported during the first phase. With the approval of the six new DPRs, SVEP coverage in Jammu and Kashmir will expand from eight to 14 districts.
Addressing the meeting, Aijaz Asad said the newly approved projects focus on innovative rural enterprises aligned with local resources and market demand. He identified several sectors for intervention, including walnut oil and butter extraction, sheep wool processing, trout fish processing, village and border homestay eco-tourism, vermi-compost production, saffron value addition, herbal tea processing, amla-based products, and honey processing with packaging and value addition.
He emphasised the need for scientific identification of viable enterprises, stating that business selection should be guided by local demand, consumption patterns and rural spending behaviour.
The Secretary directed officials to prioritise economically sustainable enterprises backed by strong market linkages and value-addition opportunities to ensure long-term livelihood generation for rural youth and women.
He also stressed the importance of entrepreneurship training, capacity building and monitoring mechanisms for effective implementation of the projects, adding that entrepreneurship development should be decentralised to the village level through community-based training modules and Training of Trainers (ToT) programmes.
Calling for stronger inter-departmental coordination, he urged all stakeholders to ensure timely execution and rigorous monitoring so that the benefits reach aspiring rural entrepreneurs across Jammu and Kashmir.
According to data presented during the meeting, non-farm livelihood initiatives in Jammu and Kashmir have so far supported 26,551 enterprises, including 26,217 individual enterprises and 355 group enterprises under NRLM and SVEP.
SVEP is a sub-scheme of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) under the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, aimed at promoting non-farm entrepreneurship among Self-Help Group (SHG) members and their families in rural areas.
