Entrepreneurship workshop held for students in Kashmir

An entrepreneurship workshop was held at the Kashmir University here to draw students to learn more about trade and business, with an aim of furthering employment opportunities in the region.

The two-day workshop was held over the weekend by the Department of Business of the Kashmir University.

Students from the department and across the varsity attended the workshop. Entrepreneurs from banks and businesses in the Kashmir valley were invited to tell their success stories to the students and give them tips for their very own start-ups.

"If we look at unemployment, the figure is rising at an alarming rate. The need of the hour is to tap the right kind of entrepreneurs. In this connection we have called some of the leading entrepreneurs of the valley to this function," said Farooq, a faculty member of the Business School, Kashmir University.

Students said the workshop helped them understand business better and that they were eager for more such opportunities.

"The workshop was really nice. I think students living in Kashmir should get opportunities like these; more workshops like these should be organised. We learnt a lot from this workshop; we learnt how a Kashmiri student can start his business as an entrepreneur. We are very satisfied from today's workshop," said aspiring entrepreneur Fariya Jaan.

The main aim of the exercise was to create awareness about the different challenges in setting up a business unit, she added.

High rates of unemployment have long been a serious issue in Jammu and Kashmir, prompting youngsters to leave the state in order to search for jobs elsewhere.

According to the fourth Annual Employment and Unemployment Survey report for 2013-14, Jammu and Kashmir has an unemployment rate of 105 persons (per 1000 persons aged 15 years and above).

This makes Kashmir the state with the eighth highest rate of unemployment in India.

The urban areas of the state fare better with a rate of 74 as compared to rural areas with a rate of 115. The unemployment rate in the state is also skewed with respect to gender with females in the state having an unemployment rate of 242 and males having a rate of 80.