Skill development is most important for Nation's growth: Vice Prez

Hyderabad, Sep 16: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu today stressed that the Skill development is most important dimension of India's growth. Speaking after laying foundation stone for the Regional Vocational Training Institute (RVTI) at the Advanced Training Centre (ATC) here, Mr Naidu said that Indians have inherent talent and ability for entrepreneurship. What is needed is state-of-the-art training and upgradation of skills. With about 65 per cent of the population below the age of 35 years, this demographic dividend must be fully tapped to spur economic growth as well to meet the requirement of workforce to the globe, he said. “ There is an additional requirement of 109.73 million skilled manpower by 2022 in 24 key sectors, it is estimated that only 4.7 per cent of the total workforce in India has undergone formal skill training as compared to 68 per cent in United Kingdom, 75 per cent in Germany, 80 per cent in japan and 96 per cent in South Korea”, the Vice President said and added the shortage of skilled workforce could be overcome by imparting vocational training. While appreciating the Centre for creating a separate Ministry for Skill Development, Mr Naidu urged all of them to come together including government, private sectors to achieve the goal of skill development. Union Minister for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Dharmenda Pradhan said that skill training exclusively for women was being provided through the network of 11 Central Government Institutions and 1408 State Women IITs and women wings in general ITIs. Besides this, 30 per cent of the seats in general ITIs in most of the states were also reserved for women. Apart from RVTI-Hyderabad, six new RVTIs would soon be established in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, Goa and Tamil Nadu. “ It is a step in the right direction to have a tie up with apex organizations for higher specialized training for women to improve their employability”, he said. UNI