To promote the economic and sustainable development of tribal women and bring tribal communities to the forefront, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has launched the third phase of the Rural Entrepreneur Project to train 500 tribal youth. The aim of the project is to provide multi-skilling to 300 and 200 tribal women through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). Migration for livelihood is a major problem in all tribal areas of India due to constraints in access to resources and skills, thus under this initiative, people will be empowered and skilled in their own geographical areas. Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has earlier emphasised on the participation of tribal communities in the workforce, making them self-reliant in their habitations to ensure their overall development.
Prominent dignitaries at the event included Union Minister of State for Education, Annapurna Devi, Member Rajya Sabha, Sameer Oraon, National President, Scheduled Tribe Morcha; Dr. V. Satish, Organiser, BJP; Ved Mani Tiwari, CEO, NSDC & MD, NSDC International; Ashok Bhagat, Secretary, Vikas Bharti Bishunpur; Shiv Shankar Oraon, President, ST Morcha, Jharkhand Pradesh among others.
The Rural Entrepreneurs Project focuses on providing employment opportunities in both local and rural economies. The project is being implemented in six states – Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Gujarat. The concept has been given shape by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), SDE and tribal MPs.
A total of 700 participants are proposed to be trained in the third phase – 500 candidates will be given RPL training of 40 hours and 200 women from tribal community will undergo 300 hours of Short Term Training (STT) including customized entrepreneurship training. 300 hours will be a combination of more than one skill. Inclusion of more than one skill will create more opportunities for women in their district and help in reducing migration of people for livelihood opportunities.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister Annapurna Devi, said, “With the direction provided by our Prime Minister, integrated to make tribal communities employment ready and relevant in their respective geographical areas Initiatives are being implemented for development. Today's launch is another step in this direction and will ensure that we expand skilling access to our tribal youth. Enhancing their employability is paramount and will indeed help in creating an inclusive India. There is a dire need to equip tribal women with industry related skills to make them self-reliant so that they can sustain their livelihood and not depend on external sources. We will continue to engage in knowledge-sharing, training and capacity building activities for the development of our tribal youth. I am confident that the Rural Entrepreneurs Project will enhance the skills of tribal youth in certain employability, generate livelihood opportunities and enable inclusive growth.”
The training under the project will be conducted through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) in job roles such as Processed Food Entrepreneur, Beekeeper, Lead Carpenter - Wooden Furniture and Medicinal Plants Grower. The short-term training will be conducted in residential mode for 45 days, with an aim to provide employment and self-employment opportunities in job roles such as organic farming and mushroom grower, medicinal plant grower and processing, assistant fashion designer and hand-embroidery and Data Entry Operator and Mobile Handset Repair.