Army personnel to be utilised to impart skill, training

In its bid to boost skill development, government is working to use thousands of Army personnel retiring every year at a relatively young age as trainers and entrepreneurs, Lok Sabha was informed today.
Skill Development Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said his ministry would also propose the "Right to Skill" on the lines of a similar provision in Chhattisgarh under which the state government was obliged to train people in skills they wanted.
Admitting to a shortage of skill trainers, Rudy said over 50,000 non-commissioned officials retired from the Army after putting in 20 years of service and his ministry was working to use their experience and skill.

"We are trying to partner with the Ministry of Defence," he said in reply to questions and added that the government wanted to tap these personnel to see if they can come back as trainers or entrepreneurs.
Rudy, who is the first minister in charge of the new ministry created by the Narendra Modi government, said it would take some time before his department completed assessing various skills available across the country and their need in various states.
"We are creating a map connecting all the states. It will take a while. In six months or a year... We will have a perfect portal," he said.

Speaking about the right to skill, he said, "We are trying to move in that direction. I will make a request. It will take a while."
As a member mentioned a World Bank report which said only 27 per cent of such trained people get employment and 60 per cent of them drop the following year, Rudy said he was planning to come out with incentives for agencies if they could place their trainees.
The government wanted to create model centres of training across the country, targeting labourers, tribals, farmers and domestic help among others, he added.