'Creating network of skilled workers answer to unemployment'

Bhopal: Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy today said the problem of unemployment could be effectively tackled by creating a network of skilled workers under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's skill development programme. "The skill development department is a new one. Work had been done in this regard (skill development) in the past also, but we have given it a new direction. If we lay a network of skill development in the entire country, then nobody would remain unemployed," he said.

The Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge) was speaking here after launching three ambitious skill development programmes of the Madhya Pradesh government. He said the prime minister has created a history by launching the skill development programme, which has connected the youth of the country. Rudy said Modi has set up this department 68 years after India got independence, as earlier the education system was not in favour of skill development. "In our country, in order to ensure that their children clear the class X and XII exams, people do everything like providing chits for copying during examinations...even by climbing walls..but never think about developing skills," the minister said.

"Had Modi not thought of setting up this department now, then one can imagine how long it would have taken to create a skilled workforce for the country's needs," he said. The minister said in India there was a requirement of three lakh skilled drivers, ten lakh security guards, 25 lakh cameramen and three lakh welders and other skilled workforce, but they are not available. "Youth can be imparted training in these fields for creating a skilled workforce and therefore, the prime minister has set up this department," the minister said. For tackling the shortage of trainers in the country, the ministry has taken the services of retired armed forces personnel, so that youths can get training, he said. He informed that when he was made the minister of this department, its budget was only Rs two crore, which has not been raised to Rs 30,000 crore to develop skilled workforce.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, "The number of seats in engineering colleges should be in accordance to the number of engineers required, so that students can get good education." He said such engineering colleges should be shut down and instead ITIs (industrial training institutes) should be opened. "This would increase the ITI seats by two lakh in Madhya Pradesh," he added. Chouhan said when he became the chief minister, there were 15,000 seats in the ITIs in the state, but it has now gone up to two lakh. He said his government planned to transform the state into an international hub for imparting skill development training. "The state will have ITIs, that would rank number one in the country," he said.