Centre forms skill development body, deprived groups to benefit

New Delhi: The government today said it has constituted the National Skill Development Agency to ensure that disadvantaged groups are able to bridge gaps in their skilling needs. The NSDA will subsume the Prime Minister’s National Council on Skill Development (PMNCSD) and the National Skill Development Coordination Board (NSDCB), said an official statement.[caption id=“attachment_852247” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Focus on skill development. Reuters[/caption] It will coordinate and harmonise the skill development efforts of the central government and the private sector to achieve the skilling targets of the 12th Plan and beyond, the statement added. It said NSDA will endeavour to bridge the social, regional, gender and economic divide by ensuring that the skilling needs of the disadvantaged and marginalised groups like Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Castes (OBCs) and minorities are met. While the Central ministries and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) will continue to implement schemes in their remit, the NSDA will develop and monitor an overarching framework for skill development, and anchor the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF). NSDA will be an autonomous body chaired by a person of the rank and status of a cabinet minister supported by a director general and other support staff, the statement said. PTI