Flocking to Prosperity | Pulwama Youth Embrace Sheep Farming with NLM | Govt Schemes Bring Income When I came to know that government is giving good schemes, then I filled a form at Animal Husbandry Department in District Pulwama in Jammu & Kashmir. I was lucky as my number came. I was given a 50 percent subsidy for the establishment of a unit of 125 ews. I got near about Rs 5 lakh loan. This scheme and filling of the form led to a big establishment unit for me. Currently, I have 175 sheep. I have two people working for me. I am also involved so you can say a total of three families are involved in it, said the sheep farm owner in Pulwama. The unemployed people are getting a lot of benefits. Nowadays, those boys who are busy in drugs and bad activities should extend their hand in sheep farming. The sheep farm gives us benefits. I belong to a Muslim community and sheep farming is our ancestral profession. We have many breeds of sheep in our farm. It gives me livelihood and supports my family too. We are liking this, said a Pulwama sheep farm owner. Sheep Husbandry Department is giving employment to the unemployed youth. In Pulwama, the total sheep population is around 1.8 Lakh, said an official from the Sheep Husbandry Department in Pulwama, Jammu & Kashmir. Educated youth are also entering into this arena. The centrally sponsored scheme is National Livestock Mission (NLM). In NLM we give 500 sheep units or their breakup in hundreds. For example, 400 sheep units, 300 sheep units, 200 sheep units or 100 sheep units. The eligibility criteria is that for 100 sheep units at least 8 Kanals of land must be possessed. A subsidy of Rs 10 lakh is provided in it. If the total project cost is around 20-25 lakh, then Rs 10 lakh subsidy is provided by the government. In the same manner, for 200 sheep units, a subsidy of Rs 20 lakh is provided. For 300 sheep units, subsidy is Rs 30 lakh and for 400 sheep units, the subsidy is Rs 40 lakh, and for 500 sheep units, a subsidy of Rs 50 lakh is provided by the government. A lot of people have taken advantage of this scheme in our district Pulwama, said the government official from the Sheep Husbandry Department. Educated youth are coming to us and they are experiencing the benefits. There is another scheme for the Tribals, the Gujjars and Backarwals, under the scheme Welfare of the Tribals, we also give them units for raising sheep. We give them on a participatory mode. We also gave them ten animal units in good numbers last year. In future too we will continue giving, said the official from Sheep Husbandry Department in Pulwama.