MoU signed between Ministry of Shipping and Rural Development
The Ministry of Shipping signed an MoU with the Ministry of Rural Development in New Delhi for skill development of youth in coastal areas. The MoU is for the convergence of the Ministry’ prestigious project Sagaramala and the Ministry of Rural Development’s flagship programme Deen Dayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDUGKY). The Minister of Shipping and Road Transport and Highways, Mr Nitin Gadkari and the Minister for Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Drinking Water and Sanitation, Mr Narendra Singh Tomar, were present on the occasion.
The DDU-GKY is expected to bring in its skilling expertise to train coastal communities, thereby preparing them to take advantage of the job opportunities that are expected to come up in the maritime sector.
Speaking on this occasion, Mr Gadkari said that this MoU would meet the exact skill needs of industries in the port and maritime sectors and empower coastal communities for the Sagarmala project. They can contribute to the economic development and will ensure inclusive growth of the coastal districts of the country. He said that the Centre was planning to facilitate fishermen with mechanised trawlers that would allow them to fish till 30-40 nautical miles in international waters. This would generate employment opportunities for youth in coastal areas, as fishing is a big industry, which involves processing, packaging and export of fish and other sea produce. He said that there was a need to develop tourism around lighthouses in coastal areas as this would absorb rural youth as guides.
The minister for Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Drinking Water and Sanitation, Mr Narendra Singh Tomar, said that DDU-GKY was the flagship programme of the ministry and rural youth and women of coastal areas would be able to develop skills for maritime, shipping and port management. He said that under the skill development pilot project, around 7,000 people had been already been trained and out of this 600 people had already got employment.
A budget of Rs 1100 crore has been allocated under the Sagarmala scheme for coastal community development activities. Before execution, understanding the exact requirement is a key step and, therefore, an on-ground survey for accurate understanding of skill needs of 21 coastal districts has been done so that the training programmes can be aligned to the exact requirements. Along with the skill gap studies, district action plans have been made in consultation with the state governments and districts concerned and training will commence this month onwards. Specific training needs have been identified for more than 60,000 trainees in the next phase through more than 100 skill projects.
The primary goal of the skills and livelihoods programme is to meet the exact skill needs of industries in the port and maritime sector and provide the coastal communities right skills for better opportunities emanating from the large scale impact of the Sagarmala project.