To train its rural unemployed youth, the Himachal Pradesh government, in collaboration with three leading public sector banks, has chalked out a detailed plan to open Rural Development and Self Employment Training Institutes (Rudseti) covering all its 12 districts.
If all goes as planned, all the districts will get covered by the end of the financial year 2009-10. Rudseti will not only train the unemployed aspirants but will also help in credit-linking them to take up independent or joint ventures. The state government is supposed to provide the land and the central government will be providing grant of Rs 1 crore for each institute.
However, there is a delay in allotting the land by the state government to banks to set up these institutes. Keeping this in mind all these institutes will be started in hired accommodations till the land is transferred by the state government in all the districts.
The state level bankers committee (SLBC) had formed a special sub-committee to draw up an action plan as well as to monitor the progress of setting up the institutes in the state. According the plan, UCO Bank will cover Solan, Shimla, Sirmour and Bilaspur districts and the bank has decided to open three institutes in Solan. The institute at Shimla is ready and for land is being identified for other institutes.
Punjab National Bank (PNB) has taken the responsibility to open institutes in Hamirpur, Kangra, Kullu and Mandi. Considering the topographic and demographic constraints in Lahul and Spiti, the proposed Rudseti will be not be independent. The aspiring entrepreneurs will be entertained in Kullu district by PNB.
State Bank of India (SBI) has proposed to start the institute at Chamba for which district administration has already identified the land to be transferred and the proposal has been forwarded to the state government. Meanwhile, the proposed accommodation has been hired and the process to run the institute has been completed.
Talking to FE, Ripan Murgai, field general manager, UCO Bank, said, ?An innovative initiative was taken in 1982 in Karnataka, jointly by Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Educational Trust, Syndicate Bank and Canara Bank to motivate unemployed youth to take up self-employment as an alternative career. This distinctive experiment of building confidence of the youth by developing skill and positive attitude among them through training was found effective. Now this model is being replicated in other states across the country. Rudseti will run training course for skill and entrepreneurship development programmes both on farm and non-farm sector activities. All banks will nominate officers for imparting training.?