In a bid to provide jobs to nearly five lakh registered unemployed youth, the Jammu and Kashmir government has set up an employment facilitating agency (EFA) in the state.

"The EFA has been tasked to oversee the functioning of employment related organisations and monitor the progress of job-related programmes besides identifying and creating employment opportunities in service sector," officials said today.

The agency would tie-up with financial institutions for raising credit, identifying the skill deficit and skill surplus areas for transfer and upgradation, they said.

The employment department would function as the nodal agency for monitoring the progress of employment related schemes.

The technical education department would firm up its plan for skill development in consonance with the central government's plan for skill development.

Meanwhile, addressing EFA's first meeting, state finance minister A R Rather underlined the need to make the employment programme more facilitating so that the youth would voluntarily come forward and opt for establishing their own ventures.