Marking the first anniversary of the “Skill India” initiative, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) under the dynamic leadership of Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge) today announced the launch of five major initiatives reinforcing his ministry’s commitment to the youth of India. These initiatives are Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana -2, India International Skill Centres, IndiaSkills Online and a Labour Management Information System (LMIS); which were inaugurated by the Hon’ble President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee today at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.
Hon’ble President of India also inaugurated the first edition of “IndiaSkills Competition” on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day which will begin tomorrow and be held over July 16-17, 2016, at Pragati Maidan. More than 4820 candidates had registered to compete in 24 skills across 80 regional rounds to win their way to the IndiaSkills Competition 2016. This is a huge opportunity for youth to qualify for a global platform like WorldSkill International Competition which will be held in Abu Dhabi in 2017.
The event was graced by senior Ministers like Shri Venkaiah Naidu, Hon’ble Minister of Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Information and Broadcasting, Smt. Smriti Irani, Hon’ble Minister of Textiles, Shri Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Human Resource Development, and Dr. Jitendra Singh, Hon’ble Minister of State, Development of North Eastern Region (Independent Charge), Prime Minister’s Office, Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space, Government of India.
Congratulating everyone on the anniversary of Skill India, Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy said, “Skill India Mission is like a “Start-up” of Hon’ble Prime Minister for us, and during this last one year, every day has been enterprising for me. My Ministry is a live example of an early stage venture that I and my 35 Co-founders (All the officers and employees of the Ministry) have cherished, have been excited about, experienced nervousness for, but truly enjoyed it.”
“We are thankful for the enormous support that we have received from the Hon’ble President of India, who helped us in reaching out to 1500 employees at Rashtrapati Bhawan and certify them under the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) component of PMKVY, across 18 job roles and is today a part of our celebrations”, he further added.
Shri Rudy congratulated all on this day and urged everyone to contribute to Skill India efforts and motivate the youth to get skilled and make India a skilled and prosperous society which has respect for all.
Skill India is seeing great traction and is all geared to meet its philosophy of speed, scale and standards ensuring there is opportunity to get skilled for all. In the past 15 days, MSDE has got cabinet approvals on 22,000 crore worth of outlay for programs like Apprenticeship Protsahan Yojana and PMKVY 2, to be implemented over the next few years. There have been additional support through World Bank Projects as well.
The Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), which was launched last year, has secured an approval from the cabinet for its 2.0 version with an outlay of ₹12,000 crore for the next four years to train a total of 1 crore youths over the next 4 years (April 2016 to March 2020). This is an endeavour by MSDE to scale up the reach of PMKVY and at the same time strengthen the system and make these trainings more effective with robust monitoring and outcome. PMKVY. Last year’s edition of the scheme saw training of close to 20 lakh youth in 2015-16 while the overall achievement of the ministry stood at 1.04 crore trainings across ministries.
The event also saw the announcement of 50 India International Skill Centers that are slated to be open by the end of this year. In the initial phase, 15 centres have been launched today by the Hon’ble President of India, across the following eight sectors: Domestic Workers, Healthcare, Retail, Security, Capital Goods, Automotive, Construction and Tourism & Hospitality.
These will be set up through National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and will be implementing the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) and Pravasi Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PKVY) to the youth seeking global mobility for jobs. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) shall provide support for Pre-Departure Orientation Training, which includes language and soft skills training modules. The first 15 will be the following States: Uttar Pradesh (6), Kerala (2) and one each in Jharkhand, Bihar, Andhra Pradhesh/Telangana, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan.
The Hon’ble President also launched a single window platform to aggregate supply and demand trends in the Indian skill development ecosystem, referred to as the National Labour Market Information System (LMIS) – www.lmis.gov.in
LMIS is an integrated set of institutional arrangements, procedures, mechanisms and data systems designed to produce labour market information as per global standards and best practices. The system brings together statistical (quantitative) and non-statistical (qualitative) information concerning labour market actors and their environment and generate key analysis and reports which can be used for various policy interventions by different government stakeholders, as well as by the industry at large.
The National Skills Development Agency (NSDA) is designated as the lead agency for the development of the national LMIS. NSDA is undertaking a phase wise approach for the integration of required data. The inputs from 21 ministries, State Governments, National Skill Development Corporation and Sector Skill Councils is underway to be integrated in the national database on skilling. The core function of the LMIS is convergence of information such as data of Training Providers, Training Centers, Employers, Certified candidates, Candidates seeking Training etc. across Ministries/Departments/Geographies and Sectors.
Another initiative of the Ministry leveraging technology to reach millions of skill seekers, the President announced the launch of IndiaSkills Online (www.indiaskillsonline.com), an online platform for learning skills of choice. With the introduction of Online Skill-learning environment, the whole nation potentially becomes a classroom. The audio-video graphical illustrations format will help internalize the concepts for the skill-seekers, faster and longer. Online, the hard skills are supported by soft skill learning opportunities that help candidates become more confident, presentable, professionals. Skill India resolves to bridge the digital divide by providing basic digital literacy opportunities to all skill-seekers. Thus enabling them to become more aware, and better suited for the work environment of the day. The web skilling opportunities, come coupled with the convenience of learning and practicing the skill-nuggets with the convenience of a mobile app. Thus increasing the accessibility, availability and personalization options in skilling.
An MoU has been signed between MSDE and Indian Space Research Organisation on a national-wide space-based distance-learning program. This partnership is will cover 2300 ITIs and 31 Advance Training Institutes across the country in the first phase of implementation and will help scale up skill training initiatives at a rapid rate.
MSDE also signed an MoU with National Institute of Open Schooling under the Ministry of Human Resource and Development. This partnership will create vertical and horizontal mobility pathways between the formal and vocational education streams, giving ITI graduates the opportunity to pursue formal education, if they choose to do so.
Earlier in the day MSDE and its partners from the skill ecosystem celebrated the day with great fanfare at multiple locations around the country. Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship flagged off a Skillathon (an awareness march) which began from India Gate, having more than 2500 youth participating in it and showcasing their solidarity towards the need and importance of skills. 40 smaller chapters of Skillathon 2016 were organised by partners of NSDC throughout Delhi and other parts of India celebrating World Youth Skills Day 2016.
These celebration on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day 2016 reinforces the commitment of Government of India and Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) to evolve ourselves into a skilled society where there is prosperity and dignity for all.
Note: News shared for public awareness with reference from the information provided at online news portals.
