Mumbai
India is preparing skilled professionals for the world, not just for itself, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday.
He said the State governments need to expand the scope of skill development programmes for the youth so that they could help the country become self-reliant.
Speaking after inaugurating 511 Pramod Mahajan Gramin Kaushalya Vikas Kendras in Maharashtra via video conferencing, the Prime Minister said there was a need to provide training in soft skills such as basic foreign language skills, using Artificial Intelligence tools for language interpretation which would make them more attractive for the recruiters.
These 511 skill development centres, named after the late Pramod Mahajan, a prominent BJP leader and former Union Minister, are being established in 34 districts of Maharashtra with training programmes across various sectors to provide employment opportunities to the rural youth.
“The skill centers in Maharashtra will prepare the local youth for global jobs and will skill them in construction, modern farming, media and entertainment, and electronics,” Mr. Modi said.
“How to manufacture zero-defect products in the service sector, knowledge economy using modern techniques, which product manufacturing will help India to become self-reliant — we have to focus on such skills,” he said, touching upon Industry 4.0 which requires new skills.
Online modules
The Prime Minister also stressed finding out the kind of products for manufacturing that would lead the nation towards self-reliance and need to develop online modules for soft skills.
He said previous governments had no vision or seriousness about skill development among the youth which had cost the youth dearly despite there being demand from the industrial sector and talent in the youth.
“For long the previous governments lacked farsightedness and seriousness towards skill development which resulted in fewer job opportunities for the lakhs of youth due to lack of skills. However, the present government understood the need for skill development and created a separate Ministry dedicated to it with its own budgetary allocation and multiple schemes, which benefited more than 1.30 crore youth under multiple traits, while more than hundreds of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras have been established all over the country,” Mr. Modi said.
Tribal, poor, Dalit and backward class youths were the true beneficiaries, he added.
According to the Prime Minister, the agriculture sector also requires new skills for natural farming, processing, value addition, packaging and branding of farm produce. “There is a need for skills to assess balanced irrigation, agri-product processing, packaging, branding, and skilling people to get connected with the online world. Various governments of the country will have to further expand their scope of skill development,” he said.
Mr. Modi assured the trainees that they have chosen the right path as through skills, they can contribute a lot towards their families and the nation. Recalling his visit to a skill development centre in Singapore at the request of their Prime Minister, he narrated how such activities of skill training gained social acceptance and said it is the duty of society to acknowledge the dignity of labour and recognise the importance of skilled work.
Chief Minister of Maharashtra Eknath Shinde and his two deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were present.
