Dehradun: To provide better employment opportunities to youth in Uttarakhand, skill development training will be aligned with the needs of industries. Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan held a meeting at the Secretariat on Friday with representatives from the Skill Development and Employment Department, industries, and private training institutes, directing the preparation of the State Skill Development Plan. He emphasized bridging the gap between industry demand and the training being imparted in institutes.
District Skill Development Plans to Be Prepared Soon
The Chief Secretary instructed that skill development plans for all districts be prepared quickly and uploaded to the designated portal. He stated that employment potential, available training facilities, and skill demand across various sectors should be assessed in every district. New skill development programs should be launched for sectors that have employment potential but lack suitable training courses.
He also stressed focusing on emerging skill areas and utilizing studies conducted by the SETU (State Institute for Empowering and Transforming Uttarakhand) Commission. Instructions were issued to formulate an effective action plan after evaluating employment opportunities and training targets.
Quality Standards for Training to Be Defined
The Chief Secretary emphasized linking skill development programs with the actual requirements of industries. For this, coordination should be established with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and reputed engineering colleges. He directed that quality standards be formulated for training programs operating in the state to ensure uniformity.
He also asked for regular assessments of training programs and third-party audits to inspect their quality.
Focus on Employment Along with Training
The Chief Secretary stated that the goal of skill development schemes should not merely be imparting training to youth, but rather making them skilled according to industry demand to offer better employment opportunities. For this purpose, an effective action plan should be prepared by establishing coordination among various skill development schemes and programs.
The meeting was attended by Secretaries C. Ravishankar, Sridhar Babu Addanki; Additional Secretaries Manuj Goyal, Rohit Meena, Anuradha Pal, Narendra Singh Bhandari; and other senior department officials. Sanjay Agarwal, Chairman of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) Uttarakhand; Gaurav Lamba, Director of CII; and Dr. Sachin Sharma from the Bajaj Engineering Skill Training Centre also participated in the meeting.
