Government announces 'Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana', seeks public-private partnership model

NEW DELHI: With an aim to uplift the poor by enhancing livelihood opportunities through skill development, Government today announced a Rs 500 crore " Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana" and also urged the Industry to come forward to impart training to unemployed youth.

The DAY programme was announced by Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Venkaiah Naidu and Minister for Rural Development Nitin Gadkari at a convention to mark the birth anniversary of Deen Dayal Upadhaya.

Upadhyaya was a philosopher, sociologist and political activist and a key leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the forerunner of the present day BJP.

Seeking a public-private partnership ( PPP) model for the skill upgradation programme, Naidu said the Industry should come forward to help impart training to unemployed youth.

"More and more entrepreneurs should come forward to impart training to unemployed youth so that they can get jobs. There is a dearth of skilled staff in various categories," he said.

A sum of Rs 1,000 crore has been provisioned for urban poverty alleviation during 2014-15 out of which, Rs 500 crore will be spent on skill development of over five lakh urban poor under the DAY scheme, Naidu said, adding for realising the "Make in India" objective, skill development is essential.

"If India is to emerge as the manufacturing base to meet global needs, the only certain way is to empower every youth of the country with the necessary skills," he said.