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Our Bureau

New Delhi, Aug. 21 The Government is in the final stages of shaping a national skill development policy which would be soon placed before the Cabinet for its approval.

“The Government is ready with the final draft of the National Skill Development Policy which will be posed to the Union Cabinet for its approval shortly,” said Mr Oscar Fernandes, Union Minister for Labour and Employment, while addressing a FICCI Global Skills Summit here.

The policy aims to empower individuals through improved skills, knowledge and internationally-recognised qualifications to enable access to decent employment and promote inclusive national growth

Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, said that the first meeting of the National Skill Development Council (NSDC) to be chaired by the Prime Minister will meet early next month to initiate the agenda of the recently-constituted council.

He said, the council will take an overview of skill development initiatives in different ministries and departments of the Central Government and suggest ways to share the experience and learnings across various ministries.

The capacity of the national skills development system would be expanded immediately to 15 million during the 11th Plan and then be raised to 50 million by the end of the 12th Plan.

For undertaking this massive expansion in capacity, public private partnership, decentralised delivery, distance learning, and computerised vocational training initiatives could be undertaken.

According to Mr Fernandes, apart from upgrading the existing Government Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), the Government has launched the Skill Development Initiative Scheme to train one million people in the next five years and then one million every year.

Under the scheme, training is provided in demand-driven, short-term courses, which are based on modular employable skills.

The training cost for the successful candidates is borne by the Central Government.

More Stories on : Human Resources | Policy

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