Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) nodal officer V.P.Joy has said that more focus should be given to skill development programmes to ensure job opportunities for youth and students.
Addressing a review meeting here on Monday to assess the progress of the Union government-sponsored comprehensive development project, Mr. Joy, who is also Director General of Hydrocarbon India, said 25,000 youths, including tribal youths and students, will be trained during the financial year in various job sectors to improve the ranking of the district at the country level.
The ‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ programme aims at expeditiously improving the socio-economic status of 117 districts from across 28 States.
District selected
Wayanad is the lone district selected from the State for the programme.
The programme focusses on five main themes - health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion and skill development, and basic infrastructure, which have a direct bearing on the quality of life and economic productivity of citizens.
List of tribal youths
The meet directed Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) officials to prepare a list of tribal youths and tribal students for the training programme and submit it to the departments concerned. Those who are selected for the purpose will be provided training in big companies such as Cochin shipyard and BPCL .
Mr. Joy said special health blocks will be set up in the district and taluk hospitals as per the norms set by the Central government to achieve progress in the health sector.
Hence the hospitals should submit proposals to the government for the purpose.
Apart from this, they should try to get financial assistance from corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds of various organisations, sources said.
Various issues
The meet also discussed various issues of each sector to improve in the ranking under the ADP.
District Collector A.R. Ajayakumar, Subcollector N.S.K. Umesh, district planning officer K.M. Suresh, representatives of the Cochin Shipyard and senior officials of various departments attended the programme.
