Jammu, April 2 : on Minister Dr Jitendra Singh on Saturday said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is poised to lead the world’s StartUp ecosystem but Jammu and Kashmir is lagging behind. He was addressing the first of its kind programme on ‘Industry participation in Startups’ organized by various Industry organisations of Jammu to promote local StartUps. He said, ever since PM Modi had announced ‘StartUp India, StandUp India’ from the ramparts of Red Fort in his Independence Day address of 2015, it picked up in a big way in across the country, but for certain reasons did not receive the same impetus in J&K even though things have begun to change after the new arrangement was introduced over in Jammu and Kashmir from August 5-6, 2019. The on Minister said, “India with its vast unexplored potential and immense innovation talent, is destined to a frontline role in the world and emphasized sustainable StartUps for sustainable future growth.” For this, he stressed the need for a wider integration and for industry and government to work as equal partners. He said, the demarcation between the public sector and private sector is fast becoming extinct and it has to be a partnership based on equal respect, equal stakes, equal participation and equal investment. Dr Singh said, “greater integration and synergy among industry, Government departments, academia and independent institutions was crucial to create an enabling environment for growth of startups.” He added that sustainable Startups would sustain the future economy of India and give it a global visibility in the years to come. Dr Singh said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon after taking oath as Prime Minister said that minimum Government maximum Governance would be the basic principle for delivering governance to people. “PM Modi also said that the ‘government had no business to be in business’ and that the Government intends to create an enabling environment for various kinds of industries to flourish,” he added. True to this spirit the Government launched the Start-Up India and Stand-Up India Initiative that spread a movement from Metros to various States and UTs, he said adding, “due to this initiative the number of Start-ups in India have increased from 1100 in 2014 to 40,000 today, a huge jump.” While talking about the pace of increasing Start-ups in the country Dr Singh said that the Startup movement in Jammu and Kashmir has been slower compared to the rest of India due to various reasons but now its impact can be seen through various agri-based startups, Purple Revolution and through startups in other fields like Pharma etc. The Minister said that youth from various parts of the UT were voluntarily giving up govt and corporate jobs to start their own ventures thereby increasing their income manifold. Dr Singh said that repeated references to ‘Startups’ in many of PM’s speeches at regional, National and international stage is the declaration of the intent of the Government and the priority it attaches to startups. While laying special emphasis on science-based startups the Minister said that science has today entered every household and every individual’s life. VBH SHK2127