On the second World Youth Skills Day, Jharkhand Skill Development Mission Society laid out its plans to bring 25 lakh youngsters of the State under the aegis of skill development programmes in various sectors.
During an event to commemorate the United Nations-endorsed date to promote skill development in youth, State Government officials gathered at Aryabhatt Hall on Friday to discuss the avenues achieved in Jharkhand regarding skill development in youth and plans in this direction for days to come.
“25 lakh youths are to be trained for skill development and are to be placed in employed or engaged in self-employment by 2020. Pilot projects in this regard have been initiated in all districts of Jharkhand. leading training providers have been selected and they are preparing around 2,500 youngsters as of now. These projects will be scaled up in days to come,” said Additional Chief Secretary, State labour Department SKG Rahate.
Emphasis was laid on bridging the gap between present academic curriculum and the needs of the industry in order to create a workforce in accordance to the requirements of the employers.
“In comparison to China, the nation we are often weighed against, there exist three irregularities in India – in terms of education, industry and community. Youth of Jharkhand has immense potential to offer. They have proved their mettle in every field given a chance, be it production sector or sports or any other. We can hope that things will change for the better,” said Amod Kanth, Chairman Domestic Worker Sector Skill Council.
Plans to rope in leading corporate houses with the intent of using their know-how to train the youth of Jharkhand were also shared by government officials. “Tie-ups between academia and corporate world have been seen in other states. On similar lines, MoUs with Oracle and Cisco are in the pipeline. They will train students with ITIs of the State and will also provide their latest software so that our students are well-versed with the technical knowledge of the present times,” said Science and Technology Secretary Ajay Kumar Singh
Firms like Siemens and others have also approached us to join in this venture, Singh added. “We intend to work with organisations from Jharkhand too. Joining hands with good institutions will lessen the hassle our students face in getting employment,” he said.
“Add on to the skills you already possess or are interested in as they increase the chances of you getting a job. Universities, colleges and ITIs will be joined to skill development initiative where they can act as training providers or train their students under the programme,” stated Rahate.
Shedding light on the achievements by far in State, labour Commissioner Praveen Kumar Toppo said, “Out of the 3,700 that are to be skilled, 1,500 have already been trained and most of them have been placed in jobs. Certification process for all of them is presently going on. 23 training providers across 16 sectors have been listed to conduct skill development programmes across the State. We have plans to carry out skill development projects for students of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalay too.”