Mehbooba directs Departments to stick to 30% work allocation to SHGs

Srinagar: Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti Tuesday directed strict compliance of Government directive of allocating 30 % job orders by various Departments for members of Self Help Groups (SHGs) in the State. She also directed raising the financial limits of SHGs from present Rs. 60 lakhs to Rs. One crore besides corresponding enhancements.
Chairing a meeting to review the status of Self Help Groups in the State, the Chief Minister asked for making necessary amendments in the guidelines for SHGs to make them compliant with the needs of the day and the requirements of individual Departments. She specifically asked for engaging the SHGs in the maintenance and upkeep of various assets, facilities and machinery put in the Government particularly Health Department.
Minister for Finance, Labour & Employment, Syed Altaf Bukhari was present in the meeting.
Mehbooba Mufti expressed displeasure in respect of some Departments which have not made the outlined allocations for the SHGs while tendering out their works. She asked all the Departments to revisit their approach in this regard and involve these young technocrats in carrying out various jobs and works being executed by them.
In a significant direction, the Chief Minister asked the JK Bank to come up with a customized scheme within 10 days to provide financial support to these young entrepreneurs so that they don’t lag behind for want of credit availability. She also directed undertaking capacity building of these SHGs by respective Departments so that they are able to deliver effectively in tune with the requirements of the individual Departments.
The meeting was informed that by and large the SHGs have exhibited satisfactory performance in terms of quality of works undertaken by them.
Earlier, Secretary, Labour & Employment, Kifayat Hussain Rizvi briefed the meeting about the salient features of the scheme.
The Self-Help Group schemes, it may be recalled, was introduced in the State to provide job avenues to qualified graduates in various engineering disciplines by involving them with construction and upgradation of infrastructure taking benefit of their technical background and know how.
Chief Secretary, B B Vyas; Financial Commissioner, Housing & Urban Development, K B Aggarwal; Administrative Secretaries of various Departments; Chairman, JK Bank, Parvez Ahmad; heads of Departments and senior officers were present in the meeting.