Secretary RDD Inaugurates ‘Kaushal Parv 2025’, Flags Off ‘Kaushal Rath’ to Boost Youth Employment in J&K
JAMMU: Giving a significant push to youth employment, Secretary of the Rural Development Department (RDD) & Panchayati Raj, Mohammad Aijaz Asad, today inaugurated ‘Kaushal Parv 2025’, an IEC-cum-placement drive under the Himayat–Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY).
The placement drive served as a major recruitment platform, featuring 17 reputed employers including PepsiCo, Domino’s, Coca-Cola, Barbeque Nation, Burger King, Vardhman Textiles, and Rubli Foods. Job opportunities spanned sectors such as retail, hospitality, textiles, food & beverages, IT-ITES, and surveillance services.
Over 250 skilled youth, mobilised by Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs) under Himayat, participated in the event, with several receiving on-the-spot job offers.
Addressing the gathering, Secretary Aijaz Asad emphasized that placements are the cornerstone of the Himayat-DDU-GKY programme. “Job fairs like Kaushal Parv provide a direct link between trained youth and employers, ensuring transparent, sustainable, and industry-driven employment outcomes,” he said.
Highlighting the Department’s focus on market-relevant skills, he added that the twin initiatives, Kaushal Parv and Kaushal Rath, reflect a strong commitment to equipping J&K’s youth with skills for sustainable livelihoods. On the occasion, the Secretary also distributed offer letters to selected candidates.
COO of HMMU-JKRLM, Rajneesh Gupta, remarked, “This is more than a placement drive; it is a platform where skills meet opportunities, and dreams take their next step forward. Each placement today represents dignity, courage, and empowerment, not just a job.”
The event concluded with the flagging off of ‘Kaushal Rath’, a mobile outreach vehicle that will travel block-to-block for 20 days, disseminating recorded messages, distributing pamphlets, and mobilising rural youth for skill training and placements—bringing the scheme’s benefits to last-mile villages.
Himayat, the J&K chapter of DDU-GKY, is a flagship placement-linked skill development programme of the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India.
