Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Sept 9: Stressing upon making a concerted effort to bridge the gulf between skill and job, Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, today highlighted the need to end the mismatch between what is taught in our institutions and what is the actual requirement of the job markets.
He described unemployment as the biggest challenge that can be overcome only by Public-Private Partnership. “We have made a new beginning today. The next battle in the world will not be fought with bullets and bombs but with greater human resource,” he stated.
The Chief Minister was addressing a huge gathering at SKICC, where he handed over placement orders from top private sector firms to 300 ITI-trained joyous youth in a Mega Tech Fest – HOPE (Huge Opportunities for Proper Employment), organized by Technical Education Department, here today.
He also launched e-service portal of Employment Department for registration of unemployed youth.
Minister for Finance, Labour & Employment, Dr. Haseeb Drabu, Minister for Education, Nayeem Akhtar, Minister for Animal & Sheep Husbandry and S&T, Sajad Gani Lone and Minister for IT, Youth Services & Sports & Technical Education, Imran Raza Ansari were also present on the occasion.
Asking the policy planners to take a leaf out of Germany, which became an engine of European economy by focusing on skill development, Mufti Sayeed said his Government has embarked on a mission to create opportunities of employment for J&K’s skilled youth. He also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s focus on skill development in the country. “The Cabinet, in its last meeting, has approved a Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Mission which will work to create job opportunities for youth in the burgeoning private sector,” he added.
Describing J&K as the crown of India, the Chief Minister said the previous Government failed miserably to create linkages between market-ready skilled youth and the private sector. “Their only interest lay in shifting officers from key positions every now and then, which adversely affected public delivery mechanism,” he said, while handing out an assurance on providing security of tenure to officers and laying edifice of a transparent system by using modern tools like e-governance and digitisation.
Urging the private sector to come forward and partner the Government it its resolve to end the scourge of unemployment, Mufti Sayeed singled out small-scale industrial sector as one of the key areas of absorption of our skilled workforce.
Firms like Maruti Suzuki, Cafe Coffee Day, IVY Hospital, Mohali, DISH Infra, Competent Synergies, Dr. I. T. Group, Mircro Turner, besides state-based companies like Khyber Group, ALBA Electricals, Himalayan Rolling Steel Mill, Kehwah Group & Fill Industries have taken a lead in providing gainful employment to these skilled youth of the state.
Asking the universities and colleges to take a lead in promoting market-driven skill courses, the Chief Minister said for making J&K a vibrant ‘Knowledge Hub’, Schools of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship should be established in all the universities and its satellite campuses so that youth are effectively channelized into country’s top firms and companies.
Placing high priority on filling up vacancies in the Government sector, Mufti Sayeed said he had to strive hard to make PSC and SSB fully functional. “We should not be seen as a state churning out skill out of factories of unemployment but as a proactive force giving them a level-playing field to showcase their talent which they possess in leaps and bounds,” he said, while asking the department to regularly organise placement drives by bringing the skilled youth and private sector face-to-face.
Minister for Finance, in his address, stressed on enhancing employability and having a uniform structure, where employment exchange doubles up as a skill centre. “Employment is a consequence of growth. Focus on growth will automatically create employment opportunities,” he added.
Minister for Animal & Sheep Husbandry and Science & Technology, Sajad Ghani Lone and Minister for IT, YS&S and Technical Education also spoke on the occasion.
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