Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged the youth to learn more skills to enhance opportunities in the changed world order due to the pandemic crisis. And he laid out the mantra for them: Skill, re-skill and upskill.
He was addressing a web conference on the occasion of the fifth year of the Skill Mevelopment Mission. Referring to the portal launched recently for mapping the skilled employees and employers, Modi said this would help the skilled workers, including the migrant workers who have returned to their homes, to access jobs easily and the employers to contact skilled employees.
“The biggest strength of the millennials is their ability to get skilled.The ongoing cornonavirus pandemic has changed the work culture and started the concept of work from home; for this the youth are acquiring new skills keeping in mind the new work culture and new nature of job,” said Modi.
“People ask me business and markets are changing too fast, it’s hard to remain relevant. In times of corona, this is even more relevant. My answer to that is to skill, re-skill and upskill. To keep learning new skills is to re-skill and continuing to scale it up is to upskill,” he added.
The Prime Minister stated that the Skill India Mission launched five years back has led to creation of a vast infrastructure for skilling, reskilling and upskilling and enhancing opportunities to access employment both locally and globally. It has led to hundreds of PM Kaushal Kendras being set up across the country and an increase in the capacity of the ITI ecosystem. Due to these concerted efforts, more than five crore youth have been skilled in the last five years, said Modi.
He described skills as a gift which we can give to ourselves and added that skills are timeless, unique, a treasure trove and a means by which one can not only become employable but also help in leading a satisfying life. He said that a natural attraction to acquire new skills provides new energy and encouragement in one’s life. Skills are not only a means to a livelihood but also a reason to feel lively and energetic in our daily routine. The Prime Minister also brought out the distinction between ‘knowledge’ and ‘skills’ in his address. He illustrated this with an example – that knowing how a cycle runs is ‘knowledge’ while actually being able to ride a cycle was a ‘skill’. It is important for the youth to realise the difference between the two and their different contexts and implications.
With an example from carpentry, he explained the nuances between skilling, reskilling and upskilling.