Lt Governor Manoj Sinha interacts with beneficiary students from J&K under AICTE’s Pragati & Saksham Scholarship Schemes

Jammu : Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha today interacted with beneficiary students from J&K under All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) Pragati & Saksham Scholarship Schemes, through virtual mode.In a first, 480 talented girls from J&K have been included in the degree and diploma courses of Pragati Scholarship. J&K has also got 9 scholarships under the Saksham Scheme for Persons with Disabilities. While interacting with the girl students selected under the Pragati scheme, the Lt Governor termed women as vital agents of change. “J&K government is creating an ideal, gender-inclusive ecosystem where they have better access to education & economic growth putting them at the heart of our development initiatives and making those on the margins aware of their rights”, observed the Lt Governor.Social and economic equality for women is integral to achieve rapid development. Women empowerment and their equal presence in the tech sector are important to build a strong community, a resilient state, and a stronger country, said the Lt Governor.It is necessary that our girls are well-equipped with necessary knowledge, skills, and self-confidence and are included at all levels of governance. The AICTE’s scholarship program and UT Government’s initiatives like Hausla, Tejaswini, Umeed, LG Super 75, Parvaz, Mumkin are some of the major steps taken in the direction of women empowerment & bridging the gender gap, said the Lt Governor.The Lt Governor made a special mention of Ms. Sheetal Devi, one of the first 10 beneficiaries of Mumkin scheme being provided with mini commercial vehicle to the youth at zero margin money for permanent employment. Like her, around 4 lakh such women have been socially and economically empowered by connecting them through various programs.

The Lt Governor stressed on proper implementation of policies and focusing on the need to focus on skill training, re-skilling of girls so that they have an equal share in future economic opportunities.Collective efforts are yielding favourable results. During Kashmir University’s convocation, there were 94 gold medalists in 2021, out of which 77% i.e 66 were girls. Similarly, during the convocation of the Islamic University of Science & Technology, majority of gold medalists were girls, which is a clear sign of women empowerment, added the Lt Governor.Speaking on the various interventions introduced by the UT Government in the last one year, in terms of promoting technical education in J&K, the Lt Governor observed that the government has made headways in strengthening industry-academia partnerships and skill development of students at higher secondary level.In collaboration with Tata Technologies, we are setting up 14 Centres for Invention, Innovation, Incubation & Training, out of which 2 centres have started in Baramulla and Jammu, he said.Rs 200 crores has been allocated to the colleges for skill development so that the young professionals can be trained in the cutting edge Industry 4.0 technology like artificial intelligence, internet of things, 3D technology, data-analysis, robotics, and all other subjects, the Lt Governor further added.Addressing the students, the Lt Governor advised them to avail this golden opportunity to contribute to national development plans with their technical expertise, and overcome the modern day challenges with their collective efforts.The Lt Governor recalled his interaction with the members of youth clubs from various districts on 15th August, and shared their excitement for being a part of the social change.The Lt Governor also congratulated the beneficiary students under the Saksham scheme. Students selected under Pragati and Saksham Schemes also shared their experiences on how these endeavours in the form of scholarships have brought about a massive transformation in their lives.Prof. Anil D. Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, AICTE; Prof. M.P. Poonia, Vice-Chairman, AICTE and Prof. Rajive Kumar, Member Secretary AICTE were also a part of the interaction.Dr. Asgar Hassan Samoon, Principal Secretary to the Government, Skill Development Department; Sh. Sudershan Kumar, Director, Skill Development, students and faculty of Institutes of Technical education joined through virtual mode.