Strengthening Communities in Skill Development: An Impact Analysis of Project Himayat in Kashmir Valley

The state of Jammu and Kashmir over the last few decades has faced and experienced troubles, unprecedented in its contemporary history and society. The political instability has impacted tremendously its public institutions like education and health which could have been potentially shaping the communities otherwise. The turmoil led to the destruction of massive infrastructural damage of schools and colleges that brought the academic calendar at halt and eroded beyond recovery. One of the unfortunate events of 1990s was a blow not only to the very fabric of Kashmir but particularly education sector as it lost majority of its Kashmiri Pandit teachers to migration of whole Community. These teachers had been the bedrock of education system in Kashmir and were considered as the vanguard of the education revolution in Valley. However beginning of skill development can be traced from the establishment of vocational and technical centers through Jammu and Kashmir Directorate of Technical Education in 1981. In order to reorient the youth and help them to participate in economic activities, the idea of providing the skill development to the youth of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly youth in the valley heralded a change in policy perception towards Kashmir by introducing the skill development initiatives like Himayat. The present study has attempted to understand the Impact of Himayat on the youth of valley.