Anantnag, Nov 3: A young boy in south Kashmir’s Anantnag was never in the race for a government job. Rather his goal was to be self-employed. Despite having a caliber and getting offers in the private sector, he remained focused on his goal and immediately went to give shape to his well-thought-out business plan.
Meet 26-year-old Faisal Yusuf from Hanji Dantar who is now providing employment to youth in his business venture and earns a “decent” livelihood. At the unit, they are manufacturing around seven lakh corrugated apple boxes in a season.
Faisal established a factory in his area two years ago where he makes cardboard boxes and boxes for apple packaging. Boxes for packing bakery, pizza, medicines, and many other items are also made there.
After getting the loan under Micro Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) he worked hard and pursued his business. He said the Centrally-sponsored scheme was a “blessing” for him.
Now he earns a good income and has employed 12 young people of his area. Faisal obtained a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from a university in Punjab after pursuing BBA from the Islamic University of Science & Technology (IUST) Awantipora. “After completing my studies, I got a job offer in a private institution. However, my dream was to do something else – self-employment,” he said.
Faisal said a large population of Kashmir is associated with horticulture, so the idea of starting a business related to this industry came to his mind.
“As the livelihood of people around me depends mainly on orchards, I thought of doing something related to this industry. This is where the idea of making cardboard boxes and selling them to orchardists came to me,” he said. “Wooden boxes cost more than cardboard boxes and many farmers choose the latter. Apart from these, we also manufacture pizza, soap, and other boxes.”
Faisal said that education should not be linked or confined to a government job. “The end-use of education is to give back to society. Educated youth should stand on their own feet. They should try to become job givers, not job takers,” he said.
Last year Faisal’s suggestion on entrepreneurs was considered by the office of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha in the ‘Awaam Ki Awaaz’ episode.
Faisal said that to create an environment of self-employment, young and promising entrepreneurs should be invited to schools for guest lectures. “Such interactions with students will ignite and propel the spirit of entrepreneurship in young minds,” he said. The LG thanked Faisal for his positive suggestion and said the instructions will be forwarded to the school and higher education for its consideration.