While Prime Minister Narendra Modi is dreaming of the day India becomes the skill capital of the world, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa unveiled a major programme on Tuesday to make the State the skill capital of the country itself.
Jayalalithaa announced a mega initiative to train thousands of Tamil Nadu youths as two-wheeler mechanics. The State will soon have Amma Two-Wheeler Mechanic Training Centres to train youngsters as mechanics in repair and maintenance of two-wheelers. As the first phase of the massive programme, Government industrial training centres in 35 panchayat unions will set up the Amma Training Centres and each of these centres would train 30 youth for three months. The trainees will receive monthly stipend of Rs3,000. The scheme would soon be extended to cover the entire State. Next time the two-wheeler owners can look forward to Amma two-wheer garages manned by skilled mechanics trained at ATWMTC.
Interestingly, Tamil Nadu has two major two-wheeler manufacturing units. It is said that Tamil Nadu is the only State in the country to have a training programme to churn out motor cycle and scooter mechanics. The scheme is launched at a cost of Rs1.68 crore.
Jayalalithaa also announced the setting up of vocational training centres for youth to get jobs or start their own enterprises. Government Industrial Training Centres spread across 60 blocks in theTamil Nadu would train 60 youngsters (those who have completed tenth standard and Plus Two) for three months in skill development. They also will get Rs3000 as stipend per month.
In yet another initiative announced by the Chief Minister on Tuesday, Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation would launch a training scheme to improve the skills of youngsters in the services sector. “A training programme which will benefit 20,000 youth selected from corporations, town panchayaths and municipalities is being implemented by TNSDC,” Jayalalithaa said in a release on Tuesday.
The Tamil Nadu government will also set up a Centre of Excellence at the MIT campus in Chennai (the alma mater of former president late APJ Abdul Kalam) and five Technical Skill Development Institutes (t-SDIs) in partnership with Siemens and Designtech. This is a Rs547 crore project in which Tamil Nadu Government would invest Rs55 crore.
The operational cost for the first three years would be taken cre of by Siemens and Designtech, said Jayalalitha.
Tamil Nadu will have a pool of trained construction workers in the backdrop of the booming construction industry in the State. The Construction Industry Development Council will join hands with the State government to train 5000 construction workers every year. The centre for training construction workers is being set up at Chengalpet where the State government has allotted five acres of land.
Jayalalithaa said these are all programmes she had mentioned in the manifesto of the AIADMK launched before the 2016 Assembly election. The timing of the announcement is important as the dates for the local body election and the by-election to three assembly constituencies are expected anytime from now.