New Delhi, Apr 8 (KNN) With a vision to empower the youth of North Eastern Region (NER) with industry-relevant skills to enhance their productivity and contribute to the economy, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) on Thursday conducted a first-of-its-kind regional workshop for Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) 3.0 in Gangtok, Sikkim.

Key personnel of State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs) and District Skill Committees (DSCs) across all eight states - Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram Nagaland and Tripura participated in the workshop.

Aimed at learning from the best practices, understanding the challenges related to PMKVY 3.0, and building understanding about using technical platforms - Skill India Portal (SIP), the workshop witnessed participation of central and state officials, an official statement said.

Several dignitaries including Satish Chandra Rai, Advisor, Skill Development Department, Sikkim; Praveen Kumar, Secretary, MSDE; Atul Kumar Tiwari, Addl. Secretary, MSDE; Dr. Manish Kumar, MD & CEO, NSDC, Sanjeev Kumar Jt. Director (Skill Development), MSDE;  Ganga Devi Pradhan, Secretary, Skill Development Department, Sikkim among others attended the workshop.

Various Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) also attended the workshop through video conferencing.

Sharing his thoughts, Praveen Kumar, Secretary, and MSDE, said, “Under the ‘Act East’ vision of our Prime Minister PM Narendra Modi aligned with the Government’s relentless efforts to drive holistic development of the NER region, today’s workshop has been envisioned to enhance the scope and impact of skill development efforts under PMKVY 3.0 across all eight states to empower the youth in North East India become industry- ready for jobs of the future. Today’s discussion was also instrumental in understanding the constraints faced by local authorities and key learnings which will help us to develop an even better PMKVY 4.0 scheme.”

Ganga Devi Pradhan, Secretary, Skill Development Department, Government of Sikkim said “North Eastern states are unique in terms of their rich natural as well as agro-climatic resources, diverse culture, and native trades and hence support of SSDMs and DSCs is essential for well-orchestrated implementation of PMKVY 3.0. This workshop has established that their inputs and insights will play an integral role in the success of the scheme. It is therefore critical for all of us to join forces and support the Government’s efforts to not only promote NER’s arts and crafts and culture but to also bolster the skilling ecosystem to create a resilient and prolific workforce.”

During the day-long workshop, various schemes and programmes, management structures and processes, enhanced infrastructure, and local challenges were discussed.

A comprehensive discussion with all eight state teams took place where the state officials provided their valuable inputs. Also, there were deliberations around convergence of PMKVY 3.0 with other schemes such as National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS), ITIs, and others as well.

''Under PMKVY 1.0 and PMKVY 2.0, more than 1.21 crore youth have been oriented successfully through an improved standardized skilling ecosystem in the country,'' the statement added.