Shimla: Special focus is being given to skill development of the youth in the State so that they can be made eligible for employment by providing necessary training. Presently, three schemes i.e. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), Asian Development Bank funded Himachal Pradesh Skill Development Project (HPSDP) and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Kaushalya Vikas Yojana are being implemented in the State. Under these schemes, about one lakh youth from the State will be trained to get employment.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, first installment of Rs. 21.56 crore of has been received. This will provide employment skills to about 50,000 youth. Under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, Himachal Pradesh Kaushal Vikas Nigam (HPKVN) has been entrusted with the task of training 22 training service providers. 22000 youths are being provided training. Training completed by approximately 2340 trainees, 341 trainees has also been given employment.
With the help of Himachal Pradesh Kaushal Vikas Nigam, a graduate (vocational) program is being run by the Higher Education Department, in which 824 students have registered in the academic session 2017-18 and 1010 students have registered themselves in the year 2018-19.
Himachal Pradesh Kaushal Vikas Nigam has started ‘Graduate Add-on’ program to provide training to students of 10 Government Degree Colleges. as many as 750 students attended this session and 1,500 students will be trained in 2019-2020.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed for the 5 year Skill Development Project of Rs. 650 crore with Asian Development Bank on March 28, 2018. During the year 2019-20, approximate budget for HPSDP Scheme would be Rs. 156 crore. Under this project, skill of more than 23000 youth will be developed, 50 ITIs will be upgraded, 6 urban livelihood centers and 7 rural livelihood centers will be opened. During the year 2019-20, it is expected that approximately 31,800 Himachali Youth will be enrolled for skill trainings with HPKVN. HPKVN under its ADB program will be conducting short term training of 3000 candidates in 7 sectors namely Automobile, Manufacturing, Power, Construction and Plumbing, Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI), Information Technology-Information Technology Enabled Services (IT-ITes) and Electronics sectors.
Under this project of Asian Development Bank, the construction work of the Model Career Center, Hamirpur, Government Women Polytechnic College, Rehan, Urban Livelihood Center, Shamshi, Urban Livelihood Center, Sunder Nagar and Urban Livelihood Center, Nahan started by Himachal Pradesh Kaushal Vikas Nigam.
Construction work of Rural Livelihood Center, Sadyana in Mandi district and Rural Livelihood Center, Chopal and Pragatinagar in Shimla District have also started.
HPKVN has launched ‘Nav Dharaana’ – a livelihood based training programme for persons with disabilities for nurturing employment and entrepreneurship skills amongst the differently abled persons. During 2019-2020, approximately 300 Person with Disability will be trained in Retail, Hospitality, Agriculture and Food Processing sectors.
B.Voc. Program is a joint effort of HPKVN and Department of Higher Education, being run in 12 Government colleges of the State in 2 sectors (Retail and Hospitality) from academic year 2017-18. Presently more than 1700 students are enrolled in the degree program. From the new session, 6 more colleges and 2 new sectors, i.e. IT and BFSI is being planned to be introduced. Total enrollment of students shall reach approximately 4,000.
As Himachal has a great potential for Handicrafts and Handloom, under PMKVY, HPKVN will enroll 5,000 youths in 8 crafts through engagement of master craftsman as trainers. Training, designing, hand holding, participation in trade fairs and marketing will be incorporated in this programme for sustainable livelihood of the artisans.
In the Districts of Una, Kangra, Bilaspur where tourism and handicraft opportunities are minimal, HPKVN is planning a Women Entrepreneurship program incorporating creation and capacity development of self help groups for 3,000 women in these districts.
Total cost of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana is Rs. 133.60 crores and the Project Implementing Agencies will have to give assured wage employment to at least 70% of total trained rural poor youth. Training is being provided in trades like Retail, Iron & Steel, Tourism, Green Skill, Telecom, Health Care, Electrical, Tourism, Security, Automotive, Life Sciences and Electrical in different parts of the state. A total target of 15000 youth to be trained has been set under the scheme out of which 2787 youth has already being trained.
Decision to convert all Employment Centers into Skill Identification Centers and Ideal Career Counseling Centers has also been taken. It will increase opportunities for employment and placement by counseling the youth.
With all these skill developmental activities, the youth of state will be able to get employment and opportunities of starting their own business.
