NEW DELHI: To make India a skilled country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched four initiatives as a part of which over 40 crore people will be trained in various skills by 2022.
CISF Partners With 'Skill India' CISF has been roped in by the Central government as a partner to create awareness among the masses for the ambitious 'Skill India' mission. |
The initiatives launched today include National Skill Development Mission, National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) scheme and the Skill Loan scheme. The initiatives were launched to mark the first-ever World Youth Skills Day, where the government set a target of skilling 40.02 crore people by 2022.
At the event, Modi also unveiled the Skill India logo with the tagline -- 'Kaushal Bharat, Kushal Bharat'. The government's flagship scheme, PMKVY, will incentivise skill training by providing financial rewards to candidates who successfully complete approved skill training programmes.
Over the next year, PMKVY will skill 24 lakh youth. The skills of young people who lack formal certification, such as workers in vast unorganised sector, will be recognised. Across India, special PMKVY mobilisation camps are being organised at 100 locations with Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS). A national SMS campaign is being rolled out to build awareness of the program, reaching about 40 crore subscribers. Fresh PMKVY training was initiated in 1,000 centres across all States and Union Territories in India today, covering 50,000 youth in 100 job roles across 25 sectors.
Through an initiative known as 'Recognition of Prior Learning' (RPL), 10 lakh youth will be assessed and certified for the skills that they already possess. Under the Skill Loan scheme, loans ranging from Rs 5,000-1.5 lakh will be made available to 34 lakh youth seeking to attend skill development programmes over the next five years. Sanction letters for the first ever Skill Loans were handed out by the Prime Minister to aspiring trainees. Modi also awarded Skill Cards and Skill Certificates to trainees who had recently completed training through the Pilot Phase of PMKVY, which started in May. Such Skill Cards and Skill Certificates will allow trainees to share their skill identity with employers.
Across the country, 2,33,000 youth were awarded certificates from Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and 18,000 plus graduating students received job offer letters on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day. The Prime Minister personally presented industry job offer letters to five female ITI graduates at the event.
Modi highlighted the potential for skilled Indian youth to be recognised around the world. He congratulated six award winners from WorldSkills Oceania, an international skill competition and wished them success as they go on to compete at the World Skills Competition in Sao Paolo next month.
The National Skills Mission has a three-tier, high powered decision making structure, with its governing council being chaired by the Prime Minister. Modi also visited a demonstration of the Safeducate Container School installed at the event venue. It is the country's first Container School which was set up in Ambala by Safeducate by refurbishing discarded containers and using them for skill training in logistics.
Around 190 students per month will be trained using four such containers under PMKVY with a view to scale up skill initiatives in areas with low levels of infrastructure. At the exhibition, Modi interacted with students across the country through a distance learning tool being used to deliver training of trainers at 200 ITIs, with plans to deliver training directly to students.
He also launched an Apprenticeship portal, a one stop shop for apprenticeship related issues, which can be used by industry, students and trainers alike, and viewed a demonstration of six simulators (drone, weaving, fork lift, tractor, driving, welding) being used to deliver skill training by Tata Consultancy Services. At the event, five eminent persons shared their vision for Skill India.
These include S Ramadorai, Chairman NSDC and NDSA; Dr Alim Chandani, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Gallaudet University; Manish Sabharwal, Co-founder and CEO, Team Lease Services; Dr Romesh Wadhwani, Founder, Wadhwani Foundation and CEO, Symphony Group; and Professor Mukti Misra, Founder and President, Centurion University.
The National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, 2015 is the country's first integrated national policy for developing skills and promoting entrepreneurship on a large scale.
The Policy acknowledges the need for an effective roadmap for promotion of entrepreneurship as the key to a successful skills strategy. The vision of the policy is to create an ecosystem of empowerment by skilling on a large scale at speed with high standards and to promote a culture of innovation-based entrepreneurship which can generate wealth and employment so as to ensure sustainable livelihoods for all citizens.