Uttarakhand will have to focus on skilling its youths by synergizing the efforts of the Government, industry and the academia as skilled human resources could be the USP of our nation endowed with demographic advantages, said the Governor, Dr KK Paul, while delivering his keynote address at a conference on ‘Skilling Uttarakhand for Global Competitiveness’ under the aegis of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pant Nagar, on Friday.
He stressed on the importance of skilling the youth, something that is paramount for national development. He cited the example of expertise of Japanese who became auto sector leaders although it was not the nation of origin of auto industry.
He appealed to the corporate sector to adopt school and training institutes of each district under corporate social responsibility (CSR) and impart training programme as per the industry needs.
“By imparting effective training and better education, we can facilitate the people to get jobs. To expedite the progress, youth will have to be more skilled than now,” he said, adding that Uttarakhand’s youth are more laborious, capable of excelling in every field. “Industry can play a better role to weed out unemployment. We will have to create jobs and through it we can increase our source of income as well. To check migration from the hills, skill development can play pivotal role. School and college will have to focus on vocational courses so that we can make help our young generation to cope up with upcoming challenges,” Governor said.
He sounded unhappy over the fact that despite several efforts those other than medical and engineering professions are not being regarded as esteemed profession.
State Health Minister Surendra Singh Negi said that good initiatives taken by PHD Chamber should be extrapolated to the block levels. He also reiterated the need for special focus on skilling of the school children to equip them for taking up employment even if they have to stop continuing the academics for the higher education.
State labour Minister Harish Chandra Durgapal expressed his concern over the migration of the hill population, attributing it to lack of opportunities for the skilled in the hills and also lack of opportunities for enhancing skills. He stated that inherited skills in the hills need to be polished and marketed. The stakeholders should work towards the same, he stated. Dr Shailendra Mohan Singhal, chairman, Mandi, Uttarakhand, said that there is need of activating the dedicated team for the skilling mission.
He cited exemplary zeal shown by former director of Uttarakhand Skill Development Society Akshat Gupta, the district magistrate of UDS Nagar who was sharing the dais with other dignitotries.
Mangala Rai, vice- chancellor, GB Pant University of Agriculture & Technology deliberated that immediate action of creating a platform for the benefit of the farmers for supplying commercially viable seeds is required.
He laid emphasis on commercially viable solutions for the underprivileged and on bringing the dignity of labour especially in the agri sector. In his welcome speech, senior member, PHD Chamber Rajeev Ghai said that Uttarakhand still has to add to its fold skilling of its youth to meet demands and challenges of employment and entrepreneurship to meet Global Competitiveness.
In his theme address, senior member, PHD Chamber, Amit Gupta asserted that Uttarakhand has the strategic advantage of high literacy levels, rich natural resources, tourism due to its religious heritage and its unmatched geographical character. Skill training has to be customized according to the local industry needs and youth aspirations so that the migration of youth can be stopped.
The technical session moderated by PHD Chamber regional director Anil Taneja included Pravi Kapoor, programme development, National Skill Development Corporation, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Gopal K Bhasin, general manager, Apparel Training & Design Centre, Ministry Of Textile, Govt of India.