Modi to assess skill development progress today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Thursday take stock of the progress in various initiatives by his government on skill development, considered essential for success  of his pet 'Make in India' project, official sources said.

Modi has asked skill development minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy, labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya, human resource development minister Smriti Irani and NITI Aayog officials to be present at the meeting.

This is the first such review called by Modi after he had created a separate ministry for skill development and had a slew of measures for it in the Budget for 2014-15.

Rudy on Tuesday had said at an event here that India was five to six decades behind in skill development. He'd urged the corporate sector to help, saying the effort would need public-private partnerships.  “The minister," went a statement by his office, "said we have been focusing on education but not on skill development. The next five to 10 years are crucial to meet the emerging challenges in making India a great power among the comity of nations.”

The ministry’s aim is to create 500 million skilled workers by 2022.

In Modi’s first speech to Parliament, he’d said he wanted a change in the country’s image from ‘Scam India’ to 'Skill India'. And, in his first Independence Day address as PM last August, had said: “If the country wants to progress on the path of development, skill development should be the mantra.”

In the Budget for 2014-15, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced the launch of a ‘Skill India’ programme.