Post news network
Bhubaneswar Nov 4: Union minister of state for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) ministry, Giriraj Singh, inaugurated a two-day national level conference on skill development here Friday.
Minister Singh, at the conference, said, “Rather than being an employee, youngsters should come up with innovative ideas that would help them to become an entrepreneur. The central government will support such youngsters.”
He said it was essential to develop ‘mapping techniques’ that would focus on bringing individuals or groups together as per the needs of an organisation.
The event is being organised by Centre for the Study of Contemporary Societies (CSCS) where sessions and discussions on various themes like skill development among youths and job creation are regularly held.
The first day of the conference focused on subjects like co-ordination of all skill development efforts happening across the country, shortening the gap between demand and supply of skilled manpower, building vocational and technical training framework and skill upgradation of the employees.
Experts from various respectable educational institutions like IITs in Ahmedabad and Indore, Anna University, National Petroleum University in Raibareli and National Institute Fashion Technology colleges in Kolkata and Bhubaneswar are also participating in the conference where they are expected to share their opinions on how to strengthen skill development initiatives in our country.
Lamenting that the present generation was not much inclined to work in the agriculture sector, Singh said, “It has vast potential as none of us can survive eating computer chips or softwares. If our youths with adequate technical knowledge come up with ideas for the growth of agriculture sector, then in future our farmers would be famous for their produce worldwide.”
He added the dalits in the state could be largely benefited with recently launched SC/ST Hub for which an initial outlay of approximately Rs500 crore has been planned. “We (the government) need to help them (dalits) by promoting their handicrafts, artifacts and other skills they specialise in.”
“India needs over four hundred million skilled people by 2020 and it will add 80 million new jobs by 2025. Skilling the youth as per the demands and needs of the industry is crucial for the country. Significantly, Orissa has already created an entrepreneurial culture. So the state should focus on creating an excellent entrepreneur eco system,” said SS Das, a renowned entrepreneurial expert who was present on the day.
S Arumugam, a former professor of Anna University, and current professor Gopal Mohapatra also spoke on the occasion.
