Known for his cool demeanour, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday lost his temper at a function here when a representative of an industry body poked holes in his pet project Himayat to provide jobs for youth in Jammu and Kashmir.
“You are making an outrageous statement.... It shows how different you are in your perception on what the ground reality is. It is no longer true,” he said, while chairing the Aajeevika Skills and Sector Skill Council meeting.
He was peeved over the representative of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) questioning the aspirational level of J&K youth, saying that they are not ready to go for non-Government jobs.
“I can get you 50 entrepreneurs in Jammu and Kashmir,” Ramesh also strongly contested the claim of the representative that youth in Jammu and Kashmir are not ready to migrate to other States for jobs.
“Sixty per cent of jobs in Himayat have been outside Jammu and Kashmir. Sixty per cent of the 8,000 kids have gone outside J&K... You are talking to somebody who visits at least twice in two months in Jammu and Kashmir to assess the job programme,” the Minister said.
However, the CII representative stuck to his claim, saying that his position on the issue was validated by the Jammu and Kashmir Government.