Current Affairs-Indian Government's Union Budget 2013-14: Government to Pull Out all Stops to Achieve the Objective of Skilling 50 Million People

Government to Pull Out all Stops to Achieve the Objective of Skilling 50 Million People; Youth to be Targeted and Motivated

Government will release funds through National Rural Livelihood Mission and the National Urban Livelihood Mission to achieve the ambitious target of skilling 50 million people in the Twelfth Plan period including 9 million in 2013-14. 

Presenting the Budget 2013-14 in the Lok Sabha today, the Finance Minister Sh. P. Chidambaram said that National Skill Development Corporation has done good work but it has to go a long way. The Minister said that 5 per cent of the Border Area Development Programme Fund, 10 per cent of the Special Central Assistance to the Scheduled Castes sub-plan and the Tribal sub-plan and some other funds will also be used for skill development. 

Giving special emphasis on youth, the Minister said that large number of youth must be motivated to voluntarily join skill development programmes. The Minister proposed National Skill Development Corporation to set the curriculum and standards for training in different skills. The Minister announced that upon passing the test after training, the candidate will be given a certificate as well as a monetary reward of an average of Rs. 10,000/- per candidate. Hoping that skill-trained youth will give enormous boost to employability and productivity, the Minister proposed to set apart Rs. 1,000/- crore for this ambitious scheme.