Skill enhancement crucial to high economic growth: Montek

Foundation stone laid for two multi-skill development centres in Gulbarga, Bangalore

Enhancing the skill levels of youth is one of the crucial factors in achieving the desired economic growth levels of 9 per cent during the 12th Plan period and the government of India is initiating several measures to improve the skill levels, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, said.

Inaugurating a multi-skill development centre (MSDC), established here in collaboration with the Central government and GIZ, Germany, by the department of labour, government of Karnataka, he said, “Without developing skills of young people it would not be possible to achieve a higher GDP growth.”

Ahluwalia said, skill development would not only broaden the employment base but also enhance employment opportunities and income levels of an individual. Since the country has not completed the demographic transition, there was a need to develop skills of a large number of young people in the next 20 years, he said.

The Planning Commission Deputy Chairman inaugurated the MSDC in Gulbarga on Monday. Bangalore and Gulbarga centres have been set up at a cost of ~40 crore each.

Noting that skill development was not a vital factor in the economy about a decade ago, Ahluwalia said 12th Five Year Plan would lay more emphasis on developing various skills of the youth.

“Skill development is deficient in the country compared to higher education. Many industrial accidents could be avoided by providing 3-6 month training course in various trades,” he said.

The Centre has been giving more thrust for skill development in the private sector and establishment of centres on PPP model. The Skill Development Council headed by the Prime Minister monitor funding and functioning of skill development centres. The Skill Development Corporation allocates corpus money to states. The Centre has suggested states to set up state level skill development council headed by the chief ministers, Ahluwalia said.

MSDCs at Gulbarga and Bangalore offer courses in Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), advanced welding, embedded system design, CNC programming and operation, CADAM design, industrial automation, construction and environmental engineering. Each centre would annually train 1,000 candidates.

The permanent campus of MSDC would come up on two acres plot in Peenya here and on 20 acres in Gulbarga with modern amenities.

Union Minister for Labour and Employment Mallikarjun Kharge said there are 9,460 industrial training institutes in the country and they have been offering training to 1.37 million students annually. A total of 5,000 skill development centres would be set up across the country in the coming years, he said.

Two more MSDCs are being set up at Mangalore and Belgaum later this year on a pilot basis. Based on the success of these four centres in Karnataka the Central government would replicate the model in other states, Kharge added.

Minister for Labour and Sericulture B N Bache Gowda said the Government has decided to upgrade 160 industrial training institutes at a cost of Rs 280 crore.