Govt to develop Skill Index for districts: Official

The government will develop a Skill Index to encourage competition between districts and improve their skill development and training performance, an official said Wednesday.

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) also commenced the Aspirational Hunar Abhiyan 2018-19 to support the "Transformation of Aspirational Districts" programme of NITI Aayog today.

"Post first phase, which is around mid-November, we will be identifying the parameters basis which the skill index will be developed to bring in healthy competition between districts and improvise on their overall performance.

"This will act as a good measurement to assess the outcome periodically and keep the overall program outcome based and efficient," said Sunita Sanghi, Sr Advisor Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

Aspirational Hunar Abhiyan has been conceived to aid and complement the programme.

The campaign shall support the skilling initiatives/component of the aspirational districts by addressing district level challenges.

Through this programme, the Ministry endeavours to facilitate strengthening of governance and institutional infrastructure in the aspirational districts.

Skill development is one of the five themes, identified by NITI Aayog which is central to the success of the Aspirational Districts plan of the government.

The progress shall be measured against 49 indicators identified by NITI Aayog, out of which 6 of them cater to skill development.

These six indicators will be targeted through this drive and the states along with the central government departments shall work collaboratively to ensure all parameters are addressed.

Addressing a workshop here, Rakesh Ranjan, Adviser, NITI Aayog, stressed upon improving, the skill components of the district action plan and said that three months of focus in skill related parameters can improvise the overall ranking of districts.