Pranab Mukherjee's gift for 50 Haryana villages: NSDC training youth with skill development programmes

The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) will set up development centres in 50 villages in Haryana, revealed a source in the NSDC. The villages chosen for the scheme were all adopted by outgoing President of India, Pranab Mukherjee. These skill development centres will empower rural youth in the state, and would be seen as Mukherjee’s lasting contributions to the nation. [caption id=“attachment_3873751” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Pranab Mukherjee. PTI[/caption] In July 2016, the president of India adopted five villages in Haryana — Alipur, Daula, Harchandpur and Tajnagar in Gurugram district and Rozkameo in Mewat district, and these were to be developed as “smart villages”. With skill development being the main agenda of the ‘Smart Villages’ programme, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and NSDC launched six centres in these five villages in November 2016, to impart key skills which are in demand locally. These skills include tailoring, gardening, general duty assistance, hard embroiderer, data entry operator, sewing machine operator, unarmed guard, domestic data entry operator and solar panel installation technician. As per an NSDC report, the organisation has enrolled 2,113 candidates in the five villages, of which 1,370 have completed their training successfully. The courses lasted between 30 to 60 days. Vimal Thenua, who has been working as a solar panel installer for the last six months at Silkatech Private Limited in Gurugram, said that if he had not done the course at the Haryana centre, he would have still been looking for employment. “I got the job after doing a course in solar panel installation,” said Thenua, who now makes Rs 25,000 per month. The government of India bears expenses for the course, and training is imparted to the students free of cost. In the second phase of the programme, in February 2017, 50 new centres were added to the list of smart villages adopted by the president. In May 2017, as reported by The Tribune, Mukherjee expressed a desire to adopt 50 more villages, all in a five-kilometre radius of ones already adopted. Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said in the state Assembly, “President Pranab Mukherjee has expressed a desire to adopt 50 Haryana villages and develop them as ‘smart villages’.” Speaking about the importance of skill development and how it empowers youth with employable skills to help them earn a better livelihood, Manish Kumar, MD and CEO of NSDC said, “Skill development plays a catalytic role in empowering youth with employable skills, which would help them earn a better livelihood. We are committed to the cause, and aim to expand this initiative to other parts of our country.” Pranab Mukherjee’s commitment to the model of village empowerment adopted by the state of Haryana is well known. In a public meeting, he lauded the state government’s initiatives for rural development. “The president of India said that he was thankful to the Haryana government for taking many initiatives, including establishment of ‘gram sachivalaya’ in 619 villages,” The Times of India reported the President’s speech at a public meeting. The article also reported the president as saying that every village should have a separate ‘gram sachivalaya’, meant to run the government at village level, instead of one secretariat at state headquarters.