Govt to focus on new-age skills for youth for high-paying jobs: FM

The government will focus on imparting new-age skills in areas like artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, big data, 3-D printing, virtual reality and robotics to equip youth to take up high-paying jobs overseas, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Friday.

Presenting the Budget, India's first full-time woman finance minister referred to the concept of 'Kayakave Kailasa' (work is worship) to highlight that the government enables about 10 million youths to take up industry relevant skill training through the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, helping create a large pool of skilled manpower.

Pointing out that demographic trends world-wide show that major economies will face severe labour shortages in the future, Sitharaman said: "To prepare our youth to also take up jobs overseas, we will increase focus on skill-sets needed abroad including language training. We will also lay focus on new-age skills like artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, big data, 3-D printing, virtual reality and robotics.