New Delhi, May 24 (KNN) The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) is in the process to further amend the Apprenticeship Act, 1961 to simplify engagement of apprentices in establishments, said Union Minister, Dr M N Pandey.

Dr Pandey while addressing a webinar on Progressive & Futuristic Skill Development organised by ASSOCHAM, said, “After two rounds of amendment, we are further amending the Apprenticeship Act and urge the industry to take advantage of simplification of the Act, we are here to address all the challenges.” 

The Union Minister also appealed to the entire corporate sector to accord supreme importance for one whole month to the MSDE’s plan to train one lac paramedical staff to stay prepared to combat the predicted third wave of COVID-19 which might target the youth and children.

“We need to complete this task by June, Government of India has allocated funds for training, so there is nothing lacking in this regard,” added Dr Pandey.

“We have sent letters to all state governments and have instructed officials to now follow up at all levels and seek help from others including industry partners so that we can impart training to willing youth and other people with the support of district collectors,” he said.

The Minister further said, “We expect support from industry and their resources to work on field and help us address this challenge to train one lac manpower that will not only get job and get skilled but will also help the country overcome this crisis.”

The paramedical staff, he said is required for various jobs including emergency medical treatment technicians for services like repair work for oxygen plants, ventilators and other devices, critical care duty, medical record keeper etc.

“We have also instructed our ITI set up to bring forth technical hands to work in this behalf,” he said.

He also said that India needs to provide right direction to its youth manpower to leverage demographic dividend adding, “We need to outline job opportunities in sectors like pharma, FMCG, healthcare, e-commerce, logistics and upskill our young populace which comprises about 60 per cent of our total population then nothing can stop India from becoming skill capital of the world.”

The Minister also urged everyone to participate in making India self-reliant, as skilled manpower is a critical factor in this regard.

Sharing his perspective, ASSOCHAM secretary general, Deepak Sood said, “The need of the hour is to recapture the demographic dividend that has been much extolled, by developing and implementing measures and initiatives swiftly and effectively. To become a centre of skill sets, India needs to harbour a large pool of skilled talents.”

In his address, Maninder Singh, chairman, ASSOCHAM National Council on Skill Development emphasised that public private partnership (PPP) can help bring major shift in skilling, reskilling and upskilling programmes in tandem with the government initiatives as in a globalised world it is in our collective interest to skill more and more people and empower them for a better future.