3.5 lakh workers to be trained under Bharatmala: Gadkari

Over one lakh workers will receive training in 310 highway projects by June 2018 with another 2.5 lakh in other projects by 2019 under the government's ambitious Bharatmala scheme, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday.

The workers will be trained under six trades -- masonry, bar-bending, shuttering, scaffolding, painting and plumbing, said Gadkari during a function where around 300 workers received skill certificates.

To fulfil the requirement of a trained workforce in highway construction, the Ministry had taken an initiative for skill development of workmen in highway construction in projects costing Rs 100 crore and above.

As per the scheme, a dedicated fund of 0.1 per cent of civil construction cost has been allocated for skill development.

"It has been made mandatory for every contractor who is awarded a highways contract to train at least ten persons for every one crore spent on the project," a government statement said.

Under this scheme, training and assessment fees are paid by the government. "The scheme also has a provision of payment of stipend to the trainees to compensate for wage loss during training period.

"The stipend is directly transferred to the Aadhaar-linked bank account of the trainee without any mediators or commission," it said.

Gadkari said that it is proposed to train around 3.5 lakh workers under Bharatmala, adding that highways construction work worth Rs 7 lakh crore will be done under Bharatmala Pariyojana.

A total of 4,600 mandays of employment are generated while constructing one lane of one kilometre of a highway stretch. "Thus Bharatmala Pariyojana is expected to generate about 10 crore of mandays," a statement quoting Gadkari said.

The Minister urged the Skill Development Ministry to design and conduct courses tailored to suit the upcoming requirements of the road transport, shipping, water resources and river development sectors. He said each of these sectors was undergoing massive expansion and transformation.

Gadkari said there was a need to train the youth so that they can take advantage of these newly emerging employment opportunities.

--IANS

vv/him/bg