Srinagar, Jun 30 (Reporter) Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Sunday that change of mindset and exploration of regional resources are the key to startups in Jammu and Kashmir. Addressing the valedictory function of the two-day national conference on ‘Role of Academic-driven Start-ups in Developing Economy of J&K (RASE-2024) at National Institute of Technology (NIT) Srinagar, he said the startup movement in India has picked up in a big way in the last one decade. He said the credit for this primarily goes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who gave a call ‘Start-up India Stand-up India’ from the ramparts of Red Fort during his Independence address ten years ago. At that time, he recalled the number of startups in the country was just 350-400 and today it has gone up to 1.5 lakh while India is rated number three globally in the startups. The Union Minister said in previous years, the startup movement did not catch up with an equal pace in this part of the country. He said this was because in some states and UTs like Jammu & Kashmir, for several decades government job or ‘Sarkari Naukri’ had been the main source of livelihood and that had conditioned the mindset of the youngsters as well as the parents. “It is, therefore, important to create awareness that 'rozgar' (employment) does not mean only Sarkari Naukri and that some of the startup avenues may be more lucrative compared to the salaried government job,” he said. Emphasising the need to explore the regional resources, Singh said, "When we talk of startups somehow the mindset gets stuck up with IT, whereas in a region like Jammu & Kashmir the agriculture sector should be the main area of startups." He said to begin with, different institutions in J&K ranging from CSIR, IIT, IIM, AIIMS, SKIMS, SKUAST, NIT Srinagar, Government Medical Colleges, could come together for joint startup endeavours. The Minister spoke to audience about the need for a fundamental shift in thinking to propel India’s economy toward the goal of a ‘Developed India’ by 2047. He emphasised the importance of linking academic institutions such as SKIMS Soura, AIIMS, IITs, IIMs, and GMCs with industry partners to ensure sustainable growth and foster a supportive environment for startups. Singh also reaffirmed the Ministry of Science and Technology’s commitment to supporting startups, highlighting the government’s efforts to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in various sectors in J&K...////...