Statutory backing soon for skill development: Rajiv Pratap Rudy

The government is all set to give statutory backing to its skill development initiatives under the National Skills Qualification Framework ( NSQF), one of the pet projects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

NSQF aims to bring consistency in measuring the outcomes of skill training across the country.

"A legislation to this effect is expected in the next session of Parliament," skill development minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said at a post-budget meeting on Tuesday.

So far, over 1,461 qualifications from both the National Skill Development Corporation and Industrial Training Institute (ITI) ecosystems have been aligned to NSQF. It is expected that all government skill training programmes will be aligned to NSQF by December 2016.

Rudy said a national board for skills assessment and certification, announced in the budget, will be established to ensure quality and consistency of skill training qualifications.

"The board will combine industry-led SSC (Sector Skill Councils) certification processes and government authorised NCVT (National Council for Vocational Training)certification and will act as a one-stop shop for examinations, assessments and awarding national-level certificates in compliance with NSQF for skill development courses in the country," the minister said.

The ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship is also in the process of rolling out a new scheme, called Udyamita, at an investment of Rs 498 crore to train entrepreneurs and connect them to mentors and credit markets.

"Udyamita is a unique scheme and we hope to set up 30,000 enterprises at the end of the scheme," said Rohit Nandan, secretary, ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship.