Dr. Najma Heptulla, Union Minister for Minority Affairs inaugurated the establishment of first Skill Development centre at University of Kashmir, Shah-I-Hamdan Memorial Trust Pampore and Comtech IT Educational Trust Srinagar for providing local market determinant skill training to BPL Muslim girls and other minority community.
The Skill Development centre is being established under the Maulana Azad National Academy for Skills (MANAS) which was launched on a pilot basis on the 125th birth anniversary of first Education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad on November 11, 2015 in New Delhi for imparting training to minority youth in light of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Skill India Mission.
J&K is the third state in India after Bihar and Mumbai where Skill Development centres under MANAS have been established by Ministry of Minority Affairs.
Speaking on the occasion, Heptullah said the role of skilling will be to fuel economic development and ensure inclusive growth of the minority students especially girls. She said the establishment of MANAS is in line with transformational vision of the Prime Minister and will further the cause of skilled India.
She said the Skill Development centres will be imparting area specific training and the scheme will ensure employment of all trainees. For J&K, the minister said, the training will be imparted in specific fields like Saffron processing, traditional embroidery, food processing, tourism, handicrafts, information technology, electronic hardware, plumbing and other related fields.
Elaborating the scope of Skill Development centres, D.S.Bhist, Joint Secretary in Ministry of Minority Affairs and chairman of MANAS said the latest state of art training equipment and trainers will be used at the Skill Development Centre for providing top quality training to poor Muslim girls and other minority communities. “80 per cent or more of the trainees will be provided wage employment and self employment by MANAS,” he said.
He said this is a unique initiative where Skill Development Centre is being opened at madarsas and other educational institutions like University of Kashmir to provide door step access to poor girls from minority community to empower them economically.
He said MANAS will seek help of Government of Jammu and Kashmir and University of Kashmir for monitoring and supervision of the training. Government of Jammu and Kashmir will provide the list of BPL candidates living near the newly established centres for Skill Development established by MANAS.
Note: News shared for public awareness with reference from an e-news portal.
