Shillong, Oct 16: Asserting that skilling youth is the need of the time, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday said Northeast is on the radar of the nation’s development.
Addressing a function in Shillong, he said the Northeast is a significant contributor to the economic progress and cultural essence of the country.
Dhankhar was speaking after laying the foundation stone for the Meghalaya Skill and Innovation Hub in New Shillong. He also launched the ‘CM Business Catalyst: Student B-Plan Challenge’, which is supported by IIM-Shillong, and presided over the signing of an MoU between UNDP and the Meghalaya government for promoting entrepreneurship.
The Meghalaya Skill and Innovation Hub will be built on a 6.54-acre plot at Rs 77.5 Cr. It will be developed as a facility for incubation, training, collaboration and industry partnerships.
Dhankhar said the empowerment of youth will boost the economy of the country.
“Skilling youth is the need of the time,” he said.
“Skill is neither discovered nor innovated, it is in fact the optimal exploitation of talent of a person in that specified field which gives the human resource a qualitative cutting-edge,” he added, underscoring that skilling is no longer a quality, it is a need.
Maintaining that the region is a very important part of the country, he said the Look East and Act East policies have resulted in exponential growth in communication and connectivity in the region.
“Northeast is on the radar of nation’s development,” he said.
Lauding Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma for the initiatives, he said that the skill and innovation hub will go a long way in promoting entrepreneurship in the state.
He also exuded confidence that the human resources of the state will get a boost with the establishment of the centre.
Dhankhar said the highest office of the country, the president of India, is held by a tribal woman, and Meghalaya’s first female DGP, Idashisha Nongrang, is also a tribal. “It shows the changing profile of India’s growth trajectory.” Stating that PM Narendra Modi has opened a window of opportunities for the youth through different skilling and startup programmes, he said that Rs 60,000 crore has been earmarked for skilling 5 lakh youth in the next five years.
Dhankhar also expressed concern over “ignorance and ill-informed narratives”, and questioned if the “freefall of information that has no factual foundation” be allowed on public platforms.
He further asked “if we could afford to be loose cannons, ignoring our basic commitment to our nation”.
The vice president said the engine of Meghalaya’s economy could be driven by tourism alone.
“If there is heaven it is in India, if there is heavenly spirit, it is in Meghalaya,” he said, noting that nature has bountifully gifted the state.
The chief minister said that Meghalaya’s young population is its strength.
He said his government was supporting entrepreneurship in a big way, and to address the manpower shortage, the skill and innovation hub was being set up.
“About 85 per cent of our population is below 45. The youth are our greatest strength and asset and we have initiated programmes that channelise this strength,” he said. (PTI)
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