Srinagar : Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s brainchild and Jammu & Kashmir Government’s flagship inter-sectoral initiative “Mission Youth”, a specially designed program for empowering youth made it to the highest civil services awards based on outstanding achievements over last two years.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi conferred the coveted Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration which was received by the Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, accompanied by CEO Mission Youth Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, on the occasion of Civil Services Day held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi today.

CEO Mission Youth, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary earlier made the presentation before the Empowered Committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba leading to selection of Mission Youth in a multi-staged evaluation and selection process over last six months.

Mission Youth clinched the top position in over 600 nominations from across all the States and Union Territories in the Innovation (State) category, while second position was bagged by Gujarat Government’s State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTTO). Mission Youth was selected for innovations leading to empowerment of youth in Jammu and Kashmir which included schemes in education, Skilling, coaching, volunteerism and effective use of technology for a very transparent and effective service delivery. With more than 61,000 youth benefitted under schemes and close to 5 Lakh youth engaged over last two years Mission Youth earned the rate distinction of reaching out to maximum youth under any such initiative in the country.

The award carried Rs 20.00 Lakh special Cash Reward for Mission Youth, Citation , a Scroll and a Certificate of Appreciation in favour of CEO Mission Youth Dr Shahid Choudhary for placing in Performance Appraisal Dossier of the officer by the Deptt of Personnel and Trainings as the PMA scheme guidelines.

Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta described the occasion as momentous for Jammu and Kashmir UT especially the youth. He complemented CEO Mission Youth Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary and his team for outstanding performance and contribution leading to such a rare feat in a short span of over last two years. He reiterated the commitment of administration for taking every step to empower the youth and steps for a very meaningful engagement.

CEO Mission Youth, Dr Shahid Choudhary expressed great satisfaction over the very positive response to the initiatives by youth of Jammu and Kashmir, and proactive measures by the departments and especially Deputy Commissioners in making the scheme a grand success at the ground level. Pertinently, Mission Youth has been picked up as a unique cases study by the Capacity Building Commission of India in collaboration with Harvard Business School for inclusion in courses of top management and public policy schools.

Dr Shahid thanked Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha for leadership of Mission Youth and personal efforts to bring stakeholder companies and organisations to Jammu and Kashmir. He expressed gratitude to the Chief Secretary for complete administrative oversight and support, effective role played by Administrative Secretaries, Dy Commissioners, DECCs and HoDs besides the OSDs and DD Mission Youth

The Citation of Honour underlines the special initiatives like Youth Portal, customised livelihood linked schemes like Mumkin and Tejaswini, education support like Parvaz, Youth clubs and the effectiveness of District Level Task Force headed by DCs as many of the unique features of Mission Youth leading to a sustainable and effective platform of youth empowerment in Jammu and Kashmir.

Mission Youth awarded under the Innovation (State) category for PM award has launched more than 15 schemes for youth which include Mumkin, Tejaswini – for women, Parvaz (Graduate): UPSC Coaching, Parvaz (XII): NEET/JEE coaching , Rise Together, Tourist Village Scheme, Spurring Entrepreneurship, Protsahan, LG Super-75 (Girls & Boys), LG Rolling Trophy in sports, Know-India Love-India: Bharat Darshan, Skill Development courses scheme , Youth Innovation Scheme , SAHAYETA: youth with disabilities, Scheme for youth in distress: Psycho-Social counselling and Hausla among others.