On the World Youth Skills Day, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) celebrated the fourth anniversary of the Skill India Mission on Tuesday.
A clutch of big-ticket announcements and signing of MoU’s to empower the youth with appropriate skill-training marked the celebrations. The event saw several ministers and government officials who came together to show their commitment to the avowed mission.
Dr KP Krishnan, secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, opened the ceremony by welcoming all delegates and guest. He said, “The Ministry would focus its efforts on the informal and unorganised sector especially the small and medium enterprises.”
The event was graced by Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs as the chief guest. Sitharaman pointed towards how the Skill India Mission has offered new avenues of livelihood to the youth of the country by urging young people to follow their heart in pursuing their ambitions. She said, “If you want to acquire a particular skill and you are comfortable with it, you should utilise it to the fullest. Do not settle for something just because it is easy. Strive for what you want and put in your heart to achieve it. Earlier, it was not easy to look for opportunities but today, through the help of the Ministry, the government has created an ecosystem for training. I would urge each one of you to utilise whatever is given to you by the government.
Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey, Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, said, “I want to congratulate all those who have been associated with Skill India in its four-year journey. An idea that germinated with our Prime Minister’s vision of a Skilled India has now reached its next phase. The foundation has already been laid. It is essential that there is seamless convergence across skill development programs, for which we seek support of all ministries, states and industries.”
He added that a number of initiatives have also been announced, “which will engage the youth in various skills designed to cater to new avenues of employment. We have placed emphasis on promoting apprenticeship and have rationalised the stipends to increase participation in this program.”
The highlight of the event was Kaushal Yuva Samwaad, an open dialogue with the youth to discuss potential issues and solutions from the candidates’ perspective. The two-week consulting programme was organised on a nation-wide scale to engage young job-seekers and understand their views and ideas, identify opportunities to help the Ministry in building on existing programmes and improving overall efficiency of its projects. The future recommendations would be compiled and referred for further program implementations.
The MSDE also announced the launch of Kaushal Pakhwada, a 15-day campaign, which began from July 16, where sessions and workshops will be conducted across the country to aspire young trainees under the Skill India Mission and promote the initiative among them.
The event also witnessed an introduction of the 48-member contingent, which will be representing India at World Skills International Competition, which will be held from August 22 to 28 in Kazan, Russia. These young skill trainees, below 23 years, will be competing in 44-skills against their peers from 66 other countries.
MoUs signed
- Between Retailers Association’s Skill Council of India, Ness Wadia College of Commerce and McDonald’s for degree apprenticeship in the retail sector.
-Between the Media and Entertainment Skills Council, Shri Shankarlal Sundarbai Shasun Jain College for Women, Bot VFX Limited and Vikatan Group for degree apprenticeship in the media sector.
-Between the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and the State Bank of India (SBI) and another with HDFC bank to promote apprenticeship training in the financial sector.
- In another MoU, Urban Clap collaborates with NSDC to ensure that it has a workforce, which is 100 per cent Skill India-certified through recognition of prior learning’s (RPL) programme under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY).
-Between RDSDE (Regional Directorate of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship) Punjab and Trident group for women empowerment.
- Between the Directorate General of Training (DGT) and Dassault Aviation for the launch of Aerostructure Fitter and Welder program at ITI, Nagpur
Other highlights
- Designed by the MSDE and the Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD), a degree apprenticeship programme in collaboration with industry and academia has been launched. The dual vocational education program shall have apprenticeship or on-the-job training embedded in a three or four year university degree programme.
-The SBI shall be engaging 5,000 apprentices as banking front office executive and tele-caller in FY19-20.
-The HDFC bank will be hiring 10,000 trained professionals under the ‘job ready’ programme, designed and created in association with NSDC, over the next three years.
-In collaboration between NSDCC, BFSI Sector Skill Council and India Post Payments Bank, 170,000 grameen dak sewaks will be certified as banking correspondents under RPL program of PMKVY.
Additionally, the directorate general of training also announced the establishment of a new Japan India Institute for Manufacturing (JIIM) in Haryana and new courses in ITIs around training on Electric Vehicles (EVs), in line with an avowed intention of the government to work for greener energy sources.
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Law and Justice, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology, said skilling has been the backbone for all initiatives and the driving force behind this are the youth of India.
“The concept of Skill India has a unique interplay with other visionary schemes, including Make in India, Start-Up India, Stand-Up India, and Digital India. All of these will have to work in tandem for them to succeed. The Indian economy has grown manifold to become the third largest in the world now. Today, our country’s youth aspire to be job-givers and not job-seekers and this has given rise to the number of start-ups in the country. India has a unique demographic dividend and I urge the Minister of Skill Development, Dr Pandey, to match the aspiration of the youth with the global demand.”
Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and Minister of Rural Development, added, “Skill training has always been an integral part of the country’s culture and traditional education system. Our ITI ecosystem has been one of the most credible and long-standing network but it is only now, that these institutes are being modernised through improvised curriculum, state of the art infrastructure and enhanced pedagogy to the meet the aspirations of youth, turning into preferred choices for skill training.”
Ramesh Pokhriyal, Minister of HRD, said that India is set to become the hub of skill development in the world in the next few years. “In the coming 25 years, India will be the only country that will remain young, allowing us more opportunities for economic development. Apprenticeship is one of the most sustainable modules through which our youth can learn and earn at the same time. The recent reforms towards initiating apprenticeships are commendable.”
RK Singh, MoS, Ministry of Power and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, said that the day marked an important occasion to pause and reflect on the efforts towards promoting skill training in the country. He said, “It is important to celebrate milestones. This is an opportunity for us to pause and reflect on the need gaps and the roadmap ahead for Skill India. In a fast-moving economy riddled with disruptions, many have questioned whether India will be able to address the needs of a vast population by providing them skills that will make them employable in the future. The answer is definitely yes and can be seen in the eyes of our youth who aspire to live a better life.”
