Union Minister of State for Skill Development, Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday said that idea of developing Hubballi-Dharwad as the skilling capital of the State had been mooted during discussions at Hubballi and further steps would be taken on receipt of suitable proposal from the State government.
Addressing presspersons after launching the ‘Janaashirvad Yatre’ in Hubballi on Monday, the Minister said that the twin cities had great potential in terms of skill development and could emerge as a hub of skill development programmes as already adequate training facilities were in place.
He said that under the National Education Policy (NEP), focus was on skill development unlike the earlier system. And also the students would get various options in specialising in other fields apart from the one being pursued by them.
To a query, he said that in the field of Information Technology too, Hubballi-Dharwad had great potential. The issue of making the Infosys Campus in Hubballi functional had been brought to hisMnotice and he would take it up with the concerned.
On RSS chief Mohan Bhagavat’s statement regarding dependency on China in terms of technology, Mr. Chandrasekhar said that it was for the same reason that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ campaign to promote indigenous developments in science and technology and also in manufacturing. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, the country has shown that it was capable of indigenous production in various sectors,” he added.
Defending the hike in fuel prices, the minister said that it had become essential to maintain the economical balance during the tough times of COVID-19. He said that apart from the burden of oil bonds transferred by the UPA regime, the Union government had to mobilise funds required for vaccine, free ration and other social commitments of the government.
Disruptive politics
Mr. Chandrasekhar alleged that the Opposition parties had engaged in disruptive politics even when the Centre was ready to debate issues like Pegasus and the farmers’ protest. “The government was ready to discuss. But the Opposition tried to dictate terms, which cannot be allowed. The primary objective of the Opposition parties was not debate but disruption,” he said.
On why the Prime Minister or the Home Minister did not clarify on the allegations of the opposition regarding Pegasus, he said that issuing a statement outside, when the Parliament was in session would be a breach of privilege. Regarding the meeting of the Standing Committee on IT headed by Shashi Tharoor on Pegasus and non-participation of the BJP members, he said Mr. Tharoor did it for publicity.
