Centre trying to combine education with skill development: Rudy

Kolkata, Sep 7: Lamenting the lack of ecosystem required to meet the huge demand for skilled workers, Union Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Tuesday said the government is taking steps to integrate skill development with education.

"The entire skill eco-system of the country has been killed. Make in India will not happen if there are no makers. The biggest challenge now is to put up an eco system.

"So far the prime focus in the country had been only on education, but formal education should be supplemented with at least 10 weeks of training which would make the youth employable," said Rudy at an event here.

The minister said the for the purpose of developing skill sets among the youth the states will be provided with funds.

"The ministry has set up a corpus of Rs 32,000 crore provided jointly by World Bank, Prime Minister Kaushal Vikas Yojana and Apprentice Yojana for the purpose," he said adding that the centre would be giving special focus on the northeastern part of the country.

He also lauded West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her endeavour to develop skilled work force in the state and assured the Centre's continued cooperation.

"Bengal is a very important state for us and I am aware that the chief minister is very keen on skill development. In the remotest parts of Bengal, there is a great potential to expand the skilling network and I am sure we will partner with the Bengal government and start working at a bigger level," added Rudy.

IANS