The government plans to set up skill hubs across India to provide comprehensive skilling and vocational training to students, dropouts, and also those seeking employment, with 5,000 such centres planned in the first phase, Rajya Sabha was informed.
Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the skill hubs are being set up using existing infrastructures of both the education system and the Skill India initiative.
“The skill hubs are going to be 5,000 in the first phase and we expect skill hub to be present in almost every part of India, as a conglomeration of both education and skilling network,” he said in reply to a question by BJP’s Vijay Pal Singh Tomar who wanted to know the purpose and coverage of the skill hub initiative.
The minister further said, “The whole objective of the skill hubs is to use the existing infrastructure of both the education system and the existing Skill India infrastructure and network to provide comprehensive skilling and vocational training programme to students, dropouts, and also to those who are seeking employment opportunities outside the education system in various skills. He, however, did not share the timeline for setting up the skill hubs.
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Replying to a query by V Vijayasai Reddy of the YSRCP on whether women’s participation in the workforce has reduced, he said, “It is not true that there has been any major disruption of women’s participation in the workforce leading up to Covid.
“During Covid, there have been significant disruptions in the overall workforce and it is very likely that women’s participation in the workforce was also impacted.” He, however, asserted that depending on the job role and segment of the economy, women’s participation has increased significantly in many areas. “For example, in IT and the technology space, women participation has exceeded 44-45 per cent,” Chandrasekhar added.
On the steps taken by the ministry to encourage incentives for skill development programmes for women, especially in rural areas, he said, “The Jan Shikshan Sansthan network is primarily aimed at skilling women in rural areas and is doing a very good job.”
In a statement laid on the table of the House, Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan said the ministry is delivering skill training through a comprehensive network of skill development centres under various schemes for the youth across the country, including those in the rural areas.
“One of the aims of these programmes is ensuring livelihood opportunities in the rural areas through skilling of youth and imparting entrepreneurship especially since the National Policy on Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, 2015, itself prioritises the requirements of the rural youth amongst special priority groups and socio-economic growth of rural areas as an important area of work for skilling,” he said.
