GUWAHATI, June 16 � Providing employment opportunities will be one of the thrust areas of the new Government at the Centre, said Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister of State (Independent charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
Talking to The Assam Tribune, Sonowal said that skill development is the key to providing employment opportunities to the youths of the country, particularly those of Assam, where the problem of unemployment has become a serious one. He said that inter-ministerial cooperation would be required to provide employment opportunities to the youths.
On his roadmap for skill development and entrepreneurship, Sonowal said that a thorough study would be conducted shortly on the areas where skill development would provide employment opportunities to the unemployed youths. Giving an example, he said that there is a shortage of five lakh trained drivers in the country and proper training to the youths would give them employment opportunities.
However, he said that the training on skill development would have to be given considering the level of education of the youths who opt for such trainings, while at the same time, the interests of the youths would have to be taken into consideration. He pointed out that imparting training without knowing the interests of the youths would serve no purpose.
The model adopted by Gujarat for skill development and entrepreneurship paid rich dividends, but the proposed study would reveal whether there is need for adopting different models for different states. The Government will also have to set up institutes for skill development immediately after the study is completed, he added.
Sonowal said that the Government would soon make public its concept paper on skill development and the main thrust will be on human resource development and steps would be taken to ensure that even the youths with lower level of education are not left out of employment opportunities.
