Govt to focus on strengthening district skill committees, targeted skilling: Pandey

New Delhi, Jul 15 () The government has approved the launch of the initial phase of its flagship skill scheme PMKVY-III, as it eyes an increased focus on strengthening of district skill committees and creation of a demand-driven ecosystem for targeted training, Union minister Mahendra Nath Pandey said on Wednesday.

Addressing an event to mark the World Youth Skills Day, the Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said an empowered group has identified 116 such districts where more than 25,000 migrant workers returned during the lockdown.

Pandey said efforts are on to provide training to these migrant workers so that they can get employment opportunities closer to home.

He observed that migrant workers who wish to return to their industries will also be encouraged and provided Recognition of Prior Learning to boost their potential for earning wages.

An official said the initial phase of Pradhanmantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana-III has been approved for one year (2020-21).

The minister in his video address highlighted that the entire skilling ecosystem was being built around the expectations of the country's youth.

"We will focus our energies on increasing the versatility of different skills, making them (youth) suitable to meet the industry demands with the support of new technologies, nationally and globally. Our uniquely created programmes, Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS), Short-term and long-term training, Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), and special projects have certainly accelerated the skilling ecosystem and helped in reducing the skill gap," Pandey said.

Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship R K Singh highlighted the need to work on the structure of sector skill councils to increase the participation of leading industries in all the sectors.

"We need to focus on the quality of the training infrastructure and the quality of trainees and PMKVY-III will hopefully address these shortcomings," Singh said.

Observing that industries are thinking of moving out of China and looking for a destination, the minister said, "Now we can be that destination and for that we need to find out which are the industries that want to shift out their present location and which are the skill sets required by those industries".

The government launched the PMKVY scheme in 2015 and revamped it in 2016 to impart skills to one crore persons by 2020. RSN MR MR