As the Narendra Modi government completes two years in office, it has been reported that over 1.04 crore people have benefitted from the Skill India program – a massive 36.8% higher than the previous year, according to recorded data.
“The skill training and development ecosystem has seen a transformational change in the last two years,” says Rajiv Pratap Rudy, MoS for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. “This has been made possible through concerted efforts of various initiatives such as PMKVY, crucial amendments in Apprenticeship Act as well as a paradigm shift in entrepreneurship education and development,” he says.
In fact according to reports, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), which was launched by the Prime Minister last lear on July 15, alone has witnessed more than 20 lakh people, of which 40% are women candidates.
Emphasizing the need to have better connect of skills with employability, Rudy says, “Provision of a skilled workforce is a pre-requisite for a growing economy and success of various other initiatives of the government. To this end, we have identified 52 skill centres in railway premises so far, of which 12 are already operational,” he said. The Ministry has also created a new model for skilling retiring defence personnel and has successfully completed a pilot with 56 IAF officers.
“The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship is also aiming extensive modernization of the existing ITI ecosystem and establishment of new ones so that more and more people get skills of recognized standards,” says Rudy. “These will be set up in the unserved blocks to improve the outreach of the Skill India initiative,” he added.
The Ministry is also working towards the establishment of one Model Skill Center in each district of the country, which would be operational in more than 500 districts by March 2017. These will be high quality centers which will help make skill development aspirational and accessible.
Rudy also emphasized the need for promoting entrepreneurship in the light of Stand up India-Start up India movement. He said, “We will work to deliver entrepreneurship, education and training in 2200 colleges, 300 schools, 500 government ITIs and 50 Vocational Training Centres. Aspiring entrepreneurs will be connected to mentors and credit markets going forward,” he added.
Source: Economic Times.
