Skilling Ecosystem: Jayant Chaudhary on Future Readiness

Chandigarh, Aug 28 (PTI) Union Minister Jayant Chaudhary on Thursday underscored the importance of coordination between the centre, states and Union Territories for building a future-ready skilling ecosystem.

The Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) on Thursday convened the regional conference of Skill Ministers 'Kaushal Manthan' here.

Addressing the gathering, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship said India's aspiration to become the skill capital of the world depends on its ability to work in true convergence.

"Each State has unique strengths, but only by pooling resources, aligning strategies, and engaging industry as equal partners can we transform our ITIs, empower our youth, and create an ecosystem where skills lead to jobs, entrepreneurship, and dignity of labour."

"All our skilling schemes today are designed to be flexible, transparent, and accessible. NAPS (National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme) offers complete flexibility for apprenticeships specially with the new revised apprenticeship portal, while the new ITI Upgradation scheme with cluster-based mapping and a 5-year plan will ensure long-term impact."

At the heart of the conference was the recently approved Rs 60,000 crore national scheme for ITI Upgradation and Setting up of Centre of Excellence for Skilling, which seeks to transform 1,000 Government ITIs into world-class institutes of excellence through a hub-and-spoke model, and state-of-the-art infrastructure.

The scheme was discussed alongside other flagship initiatives such as PMKVY 4.0, the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme and Jan Shikshan Sansthan.

The agenda also covered innovative financing mechanisms like the Skill Impact Bond, the restructured Model Skill Loan Scheme, and integration of vocational training with mainstream education under NEP 2020 through credit frameworks and apprenticeship-embedded degree programs.

In her opening address, Archana Mayaram, Economic Adviser, MSDE, stressed upon the collaborative and convergent approach enabling effective implementation of the Ministry's schemes and the programmes.

Punjab outlined its reforms across ITIs, including Centres of Excellence and new-age trades. Haryana highlighted initiatives like the Drone Didi scheme, dual training systems and the establishment of India's first Skill University.

Bihar presented its Industry 4.0 collaborations, advanced training programmes and the newly established Jan Nayak Karpuri Thakur Skill University.

Jammu & Kashmir shared the ambitious Mission YUVA initiative that is set to generate over four lakh employment opportunities through grassroots entrepreneurship, while Uttarakhand detailed its Centres of Excellence and partnerships with industry leaders such as Tata Technologies and Hero to create an Industry 4.0-ready workforce.

Meanwhile, Jayant Chaudhary, earlier in the day, visited the vocational centre at the Model Jail, Chandigarh.

On the disruption caused by niche technologies, like AI, he said "... In this time, we must look inward, we must look at our capacities, we must look at Make in India as a mission, we must look at buying locally, supporting traditional businesses, upscaling our MSMEs, our nano entrepreneurs, giving them that platform that they can compete globally.