Bihar considering giving tablets to youths under skill development programme, says Sushil Kumar Modi

Patna: Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Modi Sunday said the state government is considering giving “tablets” to youths who would get training under the ‘Skill Development Programme’. “The state government is contemplating to give “tablets” to those youths who would get training under ‘Skill Development Programme’ in the state. The government will also take a decision on whether trained youths should be given tablets or cash (to buy tablets),” Modi said. [caption id=“attachment_2580544” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi. Image courtesy IBNLive[/caption] Modi, while addressing a programme on ‘Labour Welfare Day’, said skilled labour not only gets better job opportunities, but also good pay. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had on 2 October, 2016, launched three different projects for students’ welfare under the scheme ‘Arthik Hal, Yuvaon Ko Bal’, aimed at improving the financial condition of youths. Under the three separate schemes, the state government launched student credit card for providing education loan up to Rs 4 lakh, the ‘Swayam Sahayta Bhatta (unemployment allowance)’ and ‘Kushal Yuva Karyakram’ (skill development). The students’ welfare schemes form a part of Nitish Kumar government’s ‘saat nischay’ (seven resolves), which it has placed in the foreground of the agenda for governance in the next five years. Prominent among the seven resolves are providing piped drinking water to every household, 35 percent quota for women in government jobs, toilet to every household, power to every household, and pucca road and drainage. Modi, who also holds finance and commercial taxes departments, said the new labour policy will soon be implemented in the state. Advocating the need for balance between physical and mental work, he said it is completely wrong to think that those engaged in mental work are more important than those involved in physical work. The deputy chief minister said that ‘Vishwakarma Jayanti’ should actually be celebrated as ‘Labour Day’, instead of 1 May. Modi emphasised on eradication of child labour from the society, and appealed to people to take the resolve of not employing any child as domestic help. Talking about his decision to allow private sector to set up ITIs (industrial training institutes) in the state, he said that the number of ITIs in Bihar has gone up to more than 1,000 from just a few years ago. Modi, however, said that those who run private ITIs will be taken to task if they just distribute “certificates”, instead of providing quality education.