GUWAHATI, Sept 3 � The Government of India is planning to create a skilled manpower pool of 50 crore youths by the year 2022 and steps have already been initiated in this regard, said Union Minister-in-charge of Skill Development Sarbananda Sonowal.
Talking to The Assam Tribune, Sonowal said that the ultimate aim of the government is to make India a �global superpower of skilled manpower� so that youths of the country are capable of taking up jobs in any part of the world in addition to meeting the country�s requirements.
Sonowal revealed that earlier as many as 20 ministries were involved in skill development of youths of the country, but after the present government assumed office, a dedicated Skill Development Ministry has been created and a master plan is being formulated by the new ministry in consultation with all the stakeholders. He said that the Skill Development Ministry is also holding a series of meetings with all the concerned ministries to prepare a road map to achieve the goal of the government.
For achieving the target, the government will have to prepare a network in all the villages of the country so that the existing skills of the youths of the country can be identified. For example, everyone knows about the skills of the weavers of Assam and the government can help in improving their skills with modern training methods, said Sonowal.
The Minister pointed out that the industry would have to be taken on board while making preparations for skill development as the government would have to develop human resources as per the requirements of the industries. However, at the same time, he admitted that all the skilled youths would not get jobs and self-employment avenues would have to be provided.
When pointed out that banks and financial institutions are reluctant to provide funds for starting business in Assam, Sonowal said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has himself started monitoring the activities of the nationalized banks. He pointed out that due to the initiative of the Prime Minister, more than one crore bank accounts were opened in one day and a target of opening 7.50 crore new accounts by January 26 has been fixed. Under the circumstances, the banks and financial institutions will have to improve their performance and the loan disbursement position is likely to improve for the benefit of the skilled youths.
Sonowal said that the government would try to create skilled manpower to cater to the requirements of other countries of the world, too. He pointed out that the United States of America and a number of European countries have shortage of teachers, while India has a huge number of educated youths who can be trained to become good teachers so that they can work in the advanced countries.
