UP Minister Backs Skill Counselling And Career Fair To Drive Skill Development

Lucknow, Apr 21 (KNN) A roundtable discussion titled ‘Increasing Uptake of Skill Development in Meerut’ was held in Meerut on Saturday, bringing together policymakers, industry representatives, and civil society organisations to enhance skill development adoption.

The event was jointly organised by the Meerut Citizens Forum (MCF), Kanohar Lal Trust and the Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME).

Special guests included Chief Guest Kapil Dev Aggarwal, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Vocational Education and Skill Development, Uttar Pradesh; Rajendra Agrawal, former MP, Meerut and Convenor of ‘Friends of MSMEs in Parliament’; and Amit Agarwal, MLA, Meerut Cantonment.

According to FISME and MCF, the roundtable brought to fore two peculiar challenges faced by skill development: One, most skill development offerings are supply driven and offered to students whatever the schemes can offer at a particular place. Second, the demand for skill is solely construed on the feedback from trade  and industry. Students and parents are neither asked nor their aspirations taken into account. This results in low uptake.   

The discussion focused on building a positive societal perception of skilling and enabling students to make informed choices. It highlighted that India has largely prioritised training youth under existing schemes, rather than empowering them to choose pathways based on aspiration, earning potential, dignity, and mobility.

A key barrier remains the lack of awareness among students, parents, and teachers about diverse skill training options, limiting their ability to choose suitable vocational paths without proper guidance. This negative societal perception continues to constrain large-scale demand for skilling and must be addressed to make it more aspirational among students.

The minister announced full government support for organising a ‘Pilot Skill and Career Counselling Fair’ in Meerut.

MoS Aggarwal said, “Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and skilling courses are currently not viewed as a primary choice among students,” and emphasised that the ‘Skill and Career Fair’ is a crucial initiative to create awareness about these courses.

He added that the proposed fair will focus on 15–20 essential skills, assuring cooperation from district authorities and private institutions.

A recent study titled ‘Study for Identifying Strategies for Quadrupling Meerut’s GDP’ highlighted that an additional 2 per cent district GDP growth is achievable by shifting the workforce from farm to non-farm sectors, supported by targeted skilling initiatives.

Speakers emphasised that improving access to career counselling and aligning training with local industry needs can help unlock this potential.

Rajendra Agrawal suggested conducting a comprehensive census in every district to accurately identify the specific skills required across various industrial clusters.

Amit Aggarwal stressed the need to foster a sense of dignity around ITIs and other vocational courses. He also proposed collecting data on high school and intermediate dropouts to better map their skills and career options.

The programme was held at the MCF and attended by distinguished citizens, entrepreneurs, and representatives of various organisations. Participants were also briefed on key learnings from four skill counselling fairs conducted at the inter-college level in Meerut.

(KNN Bureau)