SRINAGAR, April 10: The government on Saturday posted Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary (IAS) as Administrative Secretary, Tribal Affairs Department.
The 2009-batch IAS officer has been also asked to hold the charge of Chief Executive Officer, Mission Youth and Mission Director, Skill Development Mission, in addition to his own duties, till further orders.
Having been Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar across crucial times of 2019 and 20, Shahid was posted as Chief Executive Officer of ‘Mission Youth’ last month. Coinciding with his appointment as Chief Executive Officer of the ‘Mission Youth, the Centre had allocated Rs 200 Crore for upliftment and employment of young people in Jammu and Kashmir.
Rs 200 crore has been kept for the youth engagement in J&K Union Territory’s budget by the Central government. To make the initiative effective and result-oriented, the UT Government had on March 9, appointed senior IAS officer Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary as Chief Executive Officer of the ‘Mission Youth’.
A Prime Minister awardee twice in the recent past, Dr Shahid earned the reputation of a highly effective and quick decision-making officer as Deputy Commissioner Srinagar during the most challenging times over the last two years. Shahid is the only officer in the last two decades who has served as Deputy Commissioner in six districts -Reasi, Kathua, Udhampur, Rajouri, Bandipore and Srinagar. He also spent a year-long stint in the office of then Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti along with charges of Director of Information and Public Relations as well as Managing Director Tourism Development Corporation.
The Mission Youth would facilitate the establishment of a required organizational and administrative structure for proactive outreach and purposeful engagement of the youth of the Union Territory,” an official spokesman had said after the Administrative Council approved the proposal of registering the organisation as a Society.
“Youth engagement through “Mission Youth is another major initiative of the Government of J&K for their upliftment and employment. A provision of Rs.200 crore has been made during 2021-22 for this initiative,” read a document of government of India outlining the initiative.
The ‘Mission Youth’ was set-up for engaging and channelizing the youth of J&K through systematic livelihood generation programmes but it has not made much progress yet.
Last month, the administrative council headed Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha approved the proposal to register the “Mission Youth” as a Society under the Societies Registration Act.
The Mission Youth envisions engaging with 80 per cent of J&K’s youth population over the next five years and transforming them into a propelling force for socio-economic development of the Union Territory.
It is pertinent to mention that the mission has partnered with institutions such as ICICI Foundation, BSE Institute and Ashok Leyland for enhancing the skill and employability of the youth. The empowerment of young people in Jammu and Kashmir is a key area in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been taking a personal interest to see them becoming self-reliant.
