The review of Garam Tarang employability training programme in the Naxal-infested states of India will be carried out next week, said MV Subbaiah, chairman of National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC). The NSDC delegation will conduct on-ground assessment of various vocational training programmes imparted to former naxal-insurgents in those areas. ?We will be touring those pockets to assess the impact of skills, employment and transformation of livelihood in those areas aimed at rehabilitating the former naxalites? Subbaiah said on the sidelines of an event hosted by HR training firm Talentsprint on Friday.
NSDC, a section 25 company conceived by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2008, is implementing skill empowerment projects in insurgency-hit areas of the country. In cordination with ministry of home affairs, it is conducting various employable programmes to redeem the warring youths back to mainstream in Orissa. Similary, NSDC is imparting pisciculture training to anti-state combatants drafted in by ULFA in Assam. Operationally, NSDC is a funding agency that identify potential training institutions and disburse funds through equity or debt route to conduct various vocational training activities.
On decline in allocation of R500 crore made by the finance minister in the 2011 Budget towards skill development vis-a-vis the sum of R1,000 crore pumped in 2008-09, he said the agency has sufficient streams of funding ito meet its various targets.
The 51% stake of NSDC is held by consortium of 10 lobby bodies, including Ficci and CII and the remaining 49% by the government. A NSDC official said the agency is also holding deliberations on sourcing funds from multi-lateral agencies like World Bank towards funding skill building activities in the country. Regarding allocation of funds by ministry of finance towards NSDC projects, he said last year no allocation was made. India needs more investment in skill building as the institutional training could be extended only to 3 million people by various ITIs and polytechnics.
