A panel formed by NITI Aayog consisting of Chief Ministers for initialising the ‘Make In India’ programme of the NDA Government, will submit its report before June 25. The group which is headed by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, held its first meeting on Saturday. “This was the first meeting. Now, we would call meetings on the issue region-wise so that those Chief Ministers who are not member of this group can give their suggestions. We will compile suggestions and submit a report before June 25,” Badal told reporters after the first meeting of the panel.
At present, the sub-group has Chief Ministers of states of Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh. Badal said that skill development is such a programme which can bring revolution in the country because unemployment is the biggest issue for India. “Our country is young because 60 per cent of the population is below 35 years of age,” he added.
However, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi presented a divergent view on skill development as he noted that “there is nothing new in skill development. We have been doing that in our state. The real problem is fund crunch. We want Rs80,000 and they pay us Rs4,000. That is the issue.” Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh advocated the need for a university in every state for skill development. “We should bring good trainers. Besides, there should be an institute for these trainers also,” he said.
He further added that there is a requirement of a national policy on skill development and that the panel will give suggestions for that. “We want that there should a policy at state level.” Singh suggested that all those people who require skill upgradation should be identified and there should be a network for this task.