Srinagar, Jan 10: The government has directed banks operating in J&K to significantly increase credit disbursement under various employment generation schemes, expressing concern over a sharp year-on-year decline in sponsorship and lending.

As per the minutes of the 17th meeting of the Union Territory Level Bankers’ Committee (UTLBC) held on November 29, 2025, the House was informed that against the sponsorship of 12,977 cases, banks in J&K disbursed Rs 389.56 crore in favour of 10,139 beneficiaries under different employment generation schemes during the first half (H1) of the financial year 2025-26.

The disbursement included Rs 114.90 crore for 1918 beneficiaries under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), Rs 254.11 crore for 7386 beneficiaries under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), Rs 0.79 crore for 69 beneficiaries under PMWMY, Rs 8.48 crore for 581 beneficiaries under the Credit Card Scheme (CCS) for Artisans and Weavers, and Rs 11.28 crore for 185 beneficiaries under the Jammu and Kashmir Rural Employment Generation Programme (JKREGP).

For the financial year 2025-26, a target has been set to cover 36,191 beneficiaries involving a total credit of Rs 1617.86 crore under PMEGP, NRLM, and JKREGP.

However, targets for PMWMY and the Credit Card Scheme for Artisans and Weavers for the Jammu division are yet to be received from the Directorate of Handicrafts and Handloom, Jammu.

“Chairing the meeting, the Chief Secretary noted with displeasure a year-on-year decline of 53 percent in sponsorship of cases, 40 percent in disbursement of cases, and 44 percent in overall credit disbursement,” a note of minutes of the meeting reads.

The Chief Secretary observed that sponsoring departments and agencies had not performed up to the mark, which adversely impacted banks’ performance in credit disbursement and beneficiary coverage under employment generation schemes.

He termed the progress under PMEGP as particularly unsatisfactory.

The Chief Secretary directed the banks to provide “hassle-free” financing for youth-centric and enterprise-focused programmes, including PMEGP, JKREGP, NRLM, PMWMY, Credit Card Scheme for Artisans and Weavers, PM Vishwakarma, Mission YUVA, and homestay development schemes.

These initiatives form a key part of the administration’s broader strategy to expand self-employment and livelihood opportunities in J&K.

The meeting also decided that sponsoring agencies must substantially enhance the sponsorship of cases, stressing that their role is as crucial as that of banks in achieving targets set under the Annual Credit Plan (ACP).

The banks were further directed to reduce the pendency of cases, especially those pending for more than 60 days, and to ensure that no case remains pending beyond the stipulated turnaround time (TAT).

Srinagar, Jan 10: The students who failed to qualify the class 11th annual regular examination 2024 and were provisionally enrolled in class 12th are facing uncertainty as the J&K Board of School Education (JKBOSE) has not refunded their fees submitted for their class 12th examination.

A group of dejected students told Greater Kashmir that those who did not clear the Class 11th Annual Regular-2024 examination were granted provisional admission to class 12th on the condition that they would be eligible to appear in the Class 12th Annual Regular examination 2025 only after qualifying the Class 11 Bi-annual Private examination.

They said that at the time of submission of examination forms and fees for the Class 12th Annual Regular 2025 examination, these provisionally promoted students, who were simultaneously appearing in the class 11th private examination, were asked to deposit the class 12th examination fee.

“The JKBOSE authorities assured us that in case we failed to clear the Class 11th private examination, the deposited fee for the class 12th exams would be refunded,” the students said.

They said that, after the declaration of the class 11th bi-annual private examination results, a section of students could not qualify.

“JKBOSE has not refunded the class 12th examination fees despite the passage of two months,” the students complained to Greater Kashmir.

The affected students urged the J&KBOSE authorities to refund the amount as promised.

Amid the delay, the students are now approaching the concerned school authorities seeking a refund of their exam fees.

“We have intimated JKBOSE a number of times to refund the class 12th exam fees of students who could not qualify their class 11th exams, but there has been no action to date,” a school teacher told Greater Kashmir. “The students think that the concerned schools have to refund their money.”

The teachers said that they had submitted the list of students for refund to JKBOSE in mid-November, but the amount has not been refunded to the students to date.

Notably, JKBOSE in its notification earlier mentioned that the students provisionally enrolled in class 12th would get a refund of exam fees if they fail to pass the class 11th examination.

“The students provisionally admitted in class 11th and 12th in the current academic session can also submit their examination forms, but their candidature shall be confirmed only if they pass the qualifying examination in full and their provisional admission is regularised,” a JKBOSE notification reads.

“In case any candidate does not pass the qualifying examination, her or his examination fees will be refunded upon applying for the same to the office of Joint Secretary Examination, Kashmir division, within 20 days of declaration of the result of their annual private and biannual 2025 examination,” the notice reads.

Secretary JKBOSE, Ghulam Hassan Sheikh, told Greater Kashmir that the fee would be refunded to all the students who had applied for it.

“We stand by our commitment, and we will refund the fee of the students whose list is submitted to the JKBOSE,” he said.

Srinagar, Jan 10: Stakeholders have expressed serious concern over the Jammu and Kashmir government’s delay in appointing a chairman for the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE), which has been vacant for over a year.

The prolonged inaction has drawn sharp criticism, with parents and teachers warning that the absence of a full-time head has pushed students into uncertainty, particularly at a time when examination results are due.

A group of parents questioned the government’s decision to announce result dates without ensuring functional leadership at the Board. “The government should not have made announcements about the result declaration if it was not in a position to appoint a chairman. Surprisingly, even an additional charge arrangement has not been put in place,” they said.

The teaching community has echoed similar concerns. Provincial President of the Jammu and Kashmir Teachers Forum, Javed Ahmad Bhat, said the delay was adversely affecting the education system as a whole.

“For nearly a year, JKBOSE functioned under an interim arrangement. However, for the past 10 days, the Board has been completely headless,” he told Greater Kashmir. He added that students are anxiously awaiting their results, which were scheduled to be declared in the first week of January.

Bhat emphasised the need for an immediate interim arrangement until a full-time chairman is appointed to ensure that the Board’s functioning is not compromised.

Greater Kashmir has earlier reported extensively on the issue, highlighting how the delay in appointing a chairman has stalled the declaration of Class 10 results, despite official announcements by Board authorities.

As already reported, the results of Class 10, 11 and 12 examinations can be declared only after approval by the Result Declaration Committee, which is headed by the JKBOSE chairman. In the absence of a chairman, the declaration of Class 10 results has been delayed.

A JKBOSE official said that, apart from Class 10 results, the evaluation process for Class 12 examinations is also at a final stage. “It will take just a few days to complete the process,” an official from the secrecy department told Greater Kashmir.

Meanwhile, a senior official from the School Education Department said the process to assign an additional charge of the JKBOSE chairman’s post to a senior official has been initiated. “The order is expected in the coming week,” the official said.

According to official figures, 94,783 students registered for the Class 10 JKBOSE examinations this year, including 68,804 from Kashmir, 25,224 from winter zone areas of Jammu division, 660 from Kargil and 95 from Leh.

The Class 11 and Class 12 examinations were scheduled from November 19 and November 8, 2025, respectively. Around 81,622 students registered for the Class 11 examination—64,001 from Jammu and 17,621 from winter zone areas of Jammu—while 70,117 students registered for the Class 12 examination, including 56,423 from Kashmir and 13,694 from winter zone areas of Jammu.