
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the skill development of the new generation is the national need and the foundation of self-reliant India, because this generation will take our republic from 75 years to 100 years. He exhorted that the Skill India Mission has to be accelerated to reap the benefits of what has been achieved during the last six years. The Prime Minister was speaking on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day.
The Prime Minister said that skill is very important in Indian culture. He emphasized that the importance of skill development and ‘up-skilling’ has to be linked with the progress of the society. Shri Modi said that like Vijayadashami, Akshaya Tritiya and Vishwakarma Pujan, skill should also be celebrated as a festival. Skill and labor are worshiped in all these festivals. Referring to these traditions, the Prime Minister said that professions like carpenter, potter, blacksmith, sweeper, gardener and weaver should be given due respect. The Prime Minister mentioned that the importance of efficiency in our society and education system was undermined during the long period of slavery.
The Prime Minister said that education tells us what to do, but skill tells us how to execute it. This is the guiding principle of the Skill India Mission. He expressed happiness that more than 1.25 crore youth have been trained under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana’.
Emphasizing on the need of skill in daily life, the Prime Minister said that along with earning one should always keep learning; Never stop learning. Only skilled person can progress in today’s world. This applies to both peoples and countries. He said that India is providing skilled and skilled labor force to the world. We should make it an important part of our strategy to make our youth skilled. He lauded the initiative of ‘Global Skill Gap Mapping’ and said that the stakeholders should continuously ‘skill’, ‘re-skill’ and ‘upskill’. This process has to be accelerated, as the rapidly changing technology is going to create a huge demand for re-skilling. The Prime Minister recalled how our skilled workers had helped in the effective war against the pandemic.
Referring to the vision of Babasaheb Ambedkar, the Prime Minister said that he had always emphasized on skilling the weaker sections. Modi said that the country is giving shape to Babasaheb’s dream through Skill India Mission. For example, ‘Going Online as Leaders – Goal’ is helping the tribal population, which includes areas such as arts, culture, handicrafts, weaving and digital literacy. The tribal population is being made entrepreneurial through this initiative. Similarly, Van Dhan Yojana is also connecting the tribal society with new opportunities. The Prime Minister concluded by saying, “In the times to come, we will have to increase such campaigns and make ourselves and the country self-reliant through skill development.”