Telecom Ministry begins scheme to skill rural youth in tech

Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha today launched a skill development scheme named after RSS ideologue Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya that will train rural youth to maintain mobile towers, repair optical fibres and fix other communication technologies across India.
"We are going to start the skill ddevelopment programme at 10 rural locations and train 10,000 people in first phase on a pilot basis. In the coming days, it will be implemented across India," Sinha said while launching the scheme.
He said that increase in broadband connectivity through BharatNet will benefit 60 crore people by December 2018.
"At present, we see rural youth selling mobile sim, repiairng mobile phones...I believe that in coming days companies will need skilled workforce to maintain mobile towers, repair minor faults in optical fibres. About Rs 7 crore will be spent to train 10,000 people," Sinha said.

He said that developing skill of youth and giving them a push in the right direction are challenges which the telecom ministry plans to handle with the help of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Sanchar Kaushal Vikas Pratisthan Scheme.
The scheme will be initially implemented in UP, Bihar, Odisha, Punjab and Haryana.

"We will develop this scheme in a manner that it is recognised across the country," Sinha said.
The minister also said that the government will reward people doing innovative work in the telecom space under Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Telecom Skill Excellence Award Scheme launched today.
The minister also appreciated BSNL for excellent performance despite cut-throat competition and continued improvement in its financials.

"I expect BSNL will report high operational profit this year," Sinha said.