Need to make skills acquisition aspirational: Rajiv Pratap Rudy

Pune: Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy has said that it's important to make skills training aspirational in order to provide employment to India's 500 million youth.

"If the 500 million young population of the country has to get employment opportunity there is a need to make skills training aspirational. The ministry is planning to rope in retired Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) as trainers in the skill development programme. As such officers are well trained and disciplined. This will resolve our manpower crisis. So, my ministry along with Minstry of Defence are working closely." the Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said in Pune on Tuesday while addressing delegates at a seminar on health skills organised by the Symbiosis Institute of Health Sciences, which is a constituent of the Symbiosis International University (SIU).

Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy tries his hand at CPR.

"The country's economy needs people with operative skills and we must send a message that acquiring a skill, which does not take a very long time, is a guarantee to a reasonably well paying job," Rudy said.

Rudy said that for a long time India's policy had laid a great stress on education thus making higher education aspirational as a way to find employment. Most investments were thus made in education with very little coming to skills training.

"We created post graduates and doctorates who can't drive a nail into a wall or don't know how to apply first aid to a persons who has met with an accident," Rudy said.

Referring to the healthcare sector, Rudy said there are reasonably good facilities for education and training of doctors, paramedics or nursing staff but there is no provision to train dozens of other areas of work where healthcare sector needs staff. There are such 40 sectors which need to bring under one umbrella and one norm that we are trying to work on.

The government has now defined 6700 national occupational standards and is in the process of determining the parameters for training, evaluation and certification for these occupations, Rudy said.

"There is demand for a variety of skills across the world. Make in India will not come through if we don't create 'Makers in India," Rudy added.

Talking about the Congress' negative attitude to the progess India's making, he said, "Congress cannot see our progress as they cannot digest our truth that the government which was working for more than couple of decades failed to reach the comman man but we are. We have majority in Lok Sabha, but dozen of Congress brats spoil the proceeding and do not let us function properly. During the Questions Hour, which begins from 11 am, they will walk in at 12 noon and condemn the issue and later address the media with falsehoods and malign us. In the coming session on February 23 we are going to introduce a bill on bank corruption law."

When asked on JNU row, Rudy said, "We live in democratic country and we respect our third pillar of our constitution that is the Judiciary. And the issue of judicial killing of Afzal Guru is not the right attitude. Why do we forget that the attack on Parliament was a terror attack. Soldiers have died and this agitation and protest is not relevant. This is really a shameful act of opposition and people who are supporting them. This is really inhuman and against our motherland India."