SRINAGAR: The Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta on Wednesday chaired a meeting to review the functioning of the Skill Development Department.
Principal Secretary, Skill Development, Dr Asgar Hassan Samoon; MD, NHM and other senior officers of the department attended the meeting.
Principal Secretary informed that around 21000 candidates have been skilled by the various ITIs/polytechnics during the year and that efforts are going on to integrate with industry to impart industry-specific skills to enhance the employability of the trainees.
Stating that various vocational institutes in J&K are imparting quality training, Dr Samoon stated that students even from IIT, Jammu and NIIT, Srinagar have been/ are being skilled/trained by these technical institutes.
Dr Samoon informed that 2 centres of excellence at Kathua and Budgam have been established, which will help make the youth of the UT future-ready for a range of jobs in the UT and beyond.
Giving details of the polytechnics operating in the UT, it was informed that out of 22 polytechnics in J&K, 18 polytechnics are operating out of their own buildings while the remaining polytechnics are housed in the rented buildings.
It was further informed that 32 ITIs have been upgraded through PPP and that they have performed well by all accounts in comparison to the other government-run ITIs.
Dr Samoon asked for funds for completion of the ongoing construction of 4 polytechnics, besides seeking fast track recruitment of faculty members in these polytechnics.
It was informed that 720 posts of different categories are vacant in the newly established polytechnics
It was informed that under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 3.0, against a target of 2500 allocated by MSDE, GoI, 1568 candidates have been given class room training and their on job training is presently underway.
It was further informed that National Health Mission has been empanelled as a training partner and its affiliated hospitals/AMT schools/Nursing colleges are the training centres for imparting training.
While stating that polytechnics in J&K have to work through convergent actions for better utilization of available resources, the Chief Secretary asked the department to initiate time table and course content convergence of various polytechnics to impart training through virtual means.
Dr Mehta asked the department to examine whether credits earned by the candidates in various polytechnics/ITIs in J&K are acknowledged by the institutes where these candidates may enrol for higher courses.
He asked the department to examine the UGC/AICTE guidelines in this regard and advised them that in case there is no provision for credit acknowledgement/consideration by the institutes teaching higher courses, the same should be examined for suitable action on the part of the government.
While stating that there are around 60000 SHGs in the UT, Dr Mehta asked the department to explore the possibility of skilling/upskilling the members of these SHGs in these institutes through customized courses/apprenticeship trainings for enhancing their entrepreneurial skills for improved incomes.
On the issue of shortage of faculty in the polytechnics in J&K, the Chief Secretary advised the department to do networking of all the polytechnics so that services of the faculty in all the institutes are available to the trainees in these institutes in a mutually convenient way.
He advised the department to look for synergy with the school education and higher education departments to ensure that the services of the teachers in schools, colleges and universities on need basis are suitably utilized in the polytechnics as well.
Dr Mehta advised the department to explore the possibility of synergising with the school education department so that the option of vocational/technical training is available to all the students from 6th class to intermediate level.
He announced that ITIs have a pivotal role to play in skilling the able and willing youth for earning their livelihood in future.
The Chief Secretary asked the department to periodically revise the course content of various training courses/trades in line with the rapidly evolving needs of the industry to ensure that the ITIs/polytechnics churn out the trainees which have takers in the industry/private sector.
Laying stress on ensuring employability, he asked the department to involve industry and businesses in the process of updation of course content and, if necessary, in revision/upgradation of the whole training paradigm so that the institutes do not lose their relevance going forward.
Dr Mehta said that one of the ways in which employability can be ensured is by making sure that the certificates are handed out only after the candidates pass a certain accredited final test, which establishes minimum acceptable proficiency in that course/trade.
The Chief Secretary directed the department to do an assessment of the job placements from these institutes in the industry/businesses over the last two years to consider whether the institutes are delivering on their mandate.
Dr Mehta considered the performance of the department under PMKVY and asked the department to strive towards becoming a top ranker in the country.
