Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan spoke of the government’s plans to set up one regional vocational training institute (RVTI) in each State.
The new RVTIs would soon be established in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, Patna, Goa and Tamil Nadu, he informed, while addressing a gathering at the foundation-laying ceremony of the RVTI in the city on Saturday.
The Ministry has been running 17 RVTIs across the country, and the one in Hyderabad is being set up for offering training for women.
Mr. Pradhan expressed concern over only five to seven crore people, of the 50 crore workforce, being skilled. He also spoke of the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna, with the aim to certify the skills acquired traditionally or by observation without any formal training.
Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu, who laid the foundation stone for the institute, stressed on the need for public-private partnerships in the coming days, and the need for skill development to push forth such alliances. Only 4.7% of the total workforce in India has undergone formal skill training as compared to 68% in the U.K., 75% in Germany, 80% in Japan and 96% in South Korea, he said.
Women need to be integrated as development partners, through empowerment in social, educational, cultural and economic spheres.
The RVTIs should work towards eradicating economic inequalities, and address the needs of the last person to be served, he said, and suggested for exploration of the possibility of tying up bank linkages with skill development training. The RVTI in Hyderabad is being set up on four acres of Advanced Training Institute campus at Vidyanagar at a cost of ₹19,95,90,000. Once established, the institute can train around 1,000 candidates every year.
This RVTI is expected to cater to the vocational training needs of 480 women annually in regular courses under the Craftsmen Training Scheme and Craft Instructor’s Training Scheme apart from similar number of candidates to be trained under various short-term courses and skill areas with high market demand. Courses identified to be offered through RVTI include fashion design & technology, architectural assistantship, cosmetology, front office assistant, secretarial practice (English) and food and beverage service assistant.
Home Minister Naini Narasimha Reddy explained that the 65 ITIs in public sector and 230 in the private sector in the State were offering training in 25 trades to 2,000 candidates every year.
Member of Parliament Bandaru Dattatreya too spoke on the occasion.
