Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has asked the key central ministries to prepare plans for the next year with special focus on skill needs of SC, ST, backward classes, minorities and people with disabilities and women.
Chairing the meeting of PM’s National Council on Skill Development in New Delhi yesterday ,the Prime Minister also asked the ministries to scale up their skill development programmes to bridge a gap between the requirement and the supply which unless checked will constrain the economic growth of the country.
Dr. Manmohan Singh warned that there is a serious challenge of providing quality education and skills to about 85 per cent of the people aged between 15 and 59 years, who acquire less than 12 years of education.
The Prime Minister cautioned that India can reap the demographic dividend of a young population provided the young citizens of the country are educated and possess the skills required for earning a decent livelihood.
Dr. Singh said that an inter-ministerial group has been set up recently to suggest appropriate strategies to achieve the task of transformational up-scaling of skills. He said that its report will be a major input related to skill development in the 12th plan document.
Asking the key central ministries to propose ambitious skill initiatives in the 12th Plan, Dr. Singh told them to project the requirement of funds for the next fiscal.
The Prime Minister also advised the Ministries to concentrate on sectors with potential like infrastructure, real estate, auto, textile, health care, retail and logistics while designing skill development initiatives.
He also asked the Central Ministries to work closely with the states particularly those who have created state skill mission, so that States are allowed to select training providers and trades, and create a decentralized approval mechanisms.
The Prime Minister informed that skill requirement studies estimate that India will require around 26 crore skilled people by 2018 and around 34 crore by 2022. These studies also indicate that we need to provide quality training to around 8 crore people in the next 5 years.
