Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti, Tuesday sought backing of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in areas of skill development and levering young and bright students of the state towards entrepreneurship, after they complete studies from various colleges and the universities.
She said the Government is committed towards creating an investor-friendly environment in the state and meeting the requirement of high-end venture firms in terms of skilled manpower and “Ease of Doing Business’. “Our youth are tailor-made for entrepreneurship. There is a palpable need though for an institutional linkup between CII, EDI, colleges and the universities to harness this talent,” she observed.
The Chief Minister made these observations in an interaction with CII delegation, headed by Rumjhum Chatterjee, who is the first Chairperson of CII’s Northern Regional Council, at the Civil Secretariat today.
Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Navin. K. Chaudhary, was also present on the occasion.
Seeking suggestions from Rumjhum Chatterjee, the Chief Minister said avenues of employment will grow only if J&K is able to attract major investors. For this, she said the government will make strenuous efforts in enhancing competitiveness of industry. “The CII must focus on orientation courses in colleges and universities on a much larger scale to bolster levels of awareness in entrepreneurship,” she stated.
Highlighting a few entrepreneurial success stories in J&K, Mehbooba Mufti said youngsters need a level-playing field and a bit more encouragement to excel in whatever field or professional line they choose. She hoped that CII would also focus on harnessing the talent of young female entrepreneurs, who have been carving out a niche for themselves in various educational streams. “I think floriculture, where the state has huge potential, can become starting point for CII,” she suggested, adding the government will partner CII in its endeavor of building capacities of talented human resource.
During the meeting, the delegation discussed with the Chief Minister various other issues relating to important sectors like Tourism, Horticulture, IT and Agriculture. The Chief Minister was briefed by CII Chairperson NR about J&K emerging as a possible destination for business startups. She said CII J&K has adopted ‘Building Competitiveness’ as its theme and will be partnering and sharing recommendations with the state government on all major policies.
The CII delegation also invited the Chief Minister to participate in Invest North and AgroTech, two flagship conferences of the confederation scheduled in the months of September and November late this year.
Rumjhum Chatterjee also presented a copy of a proposal about easing bottlenecks so that business-friendly environment in the state is improved on 35 important parameters, where India lags as per a recently-published report of the World Bank. She also briefed the Chief Minister about the confederation tie-ups with MNCs for which a lot of ground work has been done in terms of matching up with their requirements. She also handed out an assurance on building capacities of prospective entrepreneurs in startups by way of training and providing seed money. The delegation also apprised the Chief Minister about the MoU which CII has signed with Lee Kuan Yew (LKY) School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore to undertake study on ‘Ease of Doing Business’.
The Chief Minister listened patiently to the issues raised by the delegation and asked Mr. Chaudhary to ensure time-bound action on the suggestions made by the CII. The delegation also comprised Sheikh Imran, JK Head of CII NR, besides several other senior members.
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