Center pledges Rs 560 cr. to States to promote demand-driven skill development

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : On behalf of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Union Minister Dr  Mahendra Nath Pandey on September 30, 2019, announced the Center’s commitment of Rs 560 crore to the State Governments to promote demand-driven, industry linked skill development at the ground level.

The announcement was made by Dr Pandey at the Annual National Conference of State Ministers held in New Delhi, which also saw the commencement of the ‘Apprenticeship Pakhwada’, a 15-day event aimed at driving widespread awareness of the Apprenticeship. The event witnessed collaboration with 22 organizations to provide apprenticeship training opportunities to more than 2.5 lakh youth in the country.

This annual conference acts as a platform for the stakeholders of the various skilling schemes across the country, especially state government skill ministers to meet and discuss various issues affecting the skilling efforts in their states. The event saw more than 80 representatives across states participating at the conference.

Addressing the States on their collaboration on Skill Development, Dr Pandey said, “Skill development is a demand-driven subject and thus it is important that we give more power to the States to ensure quality and market relevant outcome. It is important that we map and strike a balance between the traditional and new age skills, right at the district level and also target a shift from un-organised to the organised market through our Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) programme.”

“The States should ensure integration of skills right at the school level so that the youth can decide which skills to hone. At the University level, we should promote apprenticeship training as part the regular degree courses since on-the-job training is the pre-requisite for any job,” he added.

The event also saw detailed discussion on Vision 2025 of Skill India and the direction that the Ministry and State Governments should take.  “It is imperative that the Central and the State Governments work closely with each other to ensure that we meet our Vision 2025,”Dr Pandey said, according to a PIB release.

R.K Singh, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, said, “Our focus should be on secondary and tertiary sectors than primary sectors for jobs opportunities now; and on the local demands for goods and services than on global ones. States should consistently undertake environmental scan for market relevant skills. We should ensure our alignment to jobs of the future so that India has a competitive advantage. It is also important that our trainers are upgraded consistently to latest curriculum and our infrastructure should be of global standards focusing quality delivery.”

The event also listed the recent amendments in Apprenticeship Act with an objective to increase linkage with more companies and industries. As a crucial support from MSDE, incentives to Third Party Aggregators (TPAs) was also announced to strengthen the bond with several stakeholders and aspiring youth to achieve the set target of engaging 10 lakh apprentices during current financial year. The event also witnessed felicitation of industries with more than 3,000 apprentices each and award distribution to winners of All India Competition of Apprenticeships held by Directorate General of Training.

Close to 80 lakh youth have been skilled under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) since its launch in 2015. More than 28 lakh youth have been oriented under Recognition of Prior Learning Programme, an initiative under PMKVY bringing about a major shift from the unorganised to the organised economy. MSDE has more than 25,000+ institutes and centers today delivering more than 3000+ courses across 37 sectors in the country.