Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Aug 28: Delivering the inaugural address as chief guest at the “India Micro, Small & Medium (MSME) Expo & Summit 2015” here today, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said, “not employment but employability should be the priority”.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that in the years to come, India is going to be the major source of youth skill for the rest of the world because with more than 65% to 70% of the country’s population below the age of 35, India will not only be the youngest country in the world but also a major supplier of skilled youth and entrepreneur youth to the rest of the world. In other words, he said, “Make in India” youth will be seen in every nook and corner of world and we have to gear up for such a scene developing in the next few years.
At the same time, Dr Jitendra Singh said, while roughly only about 40 lakh jobs are available in the government sector every year, the number of unemployed grows almost three times every year, that is, over 1.5 crore. To meet this challenge, the need of the hour would be not to depend on Government jobs but to prepare our youth for employability without government patronage, he added.
Citing historic perspective, Dr Jitendra Singh observed, the first three generations after independence, observed Dr Jitendra Singh, continued to be influenced by colonial mindset and feudal dependence on empire. But now, as the Indian democracy evolves further, not only the youth are growing out of that mind-set but newer and alternative avenues are also emerging on the scene.
In this context, Dr Jitendra Singh emphasized the role of MSME in supporting, encouraging and promoting young entrepreneurship. He said, the uniqueness of the MSME is that although the Department is known as “Micro, Small ….”, it inspires craving to grow bigger and bigger. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, a number of such schemes including the MUDRA Bank for financial support and skill development programme for vocational training have been initiated which has started even attracting the NRI entrepreneurs who had settled abroad for several years but now wish to come back because they see an opportunity for themselves in India under Narendra Modi.
MSME Secretary, Dr Anup K.Pujari, MSME Foundation President, Rajneesh Goenka, PHDCC President, Alok B Shriram and CEO Airtel, Ashish Arora also spoke on the occasion.
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