Bhopal: Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that skill development would help reduce state youth’s dependence on ‘stagnant’ agriculture sector. He said that while agriculture contributes only 10% to state GDP, it employs a disproportionately large number of people.
The chief minister was speaking at inaugural function of Global Skill and Employment Partnership Summit here on Thursday.
Giving an interesting example of how a skilled person can get employment, the chief minister said that during mass marriages organised by the government, the number of brides is so high that officials often find it hard to arrange for adequate number of beauticians for bridal makeup. “This means that there are employment avenues for trained beauticians even at village level,” he said.
He said that MP is power surplus state. It is situated at the centre of the nation and boasts of good road connectivity. There is neither dacoit nor Naxal problem. “Some problem had occurred in Bhopal was checked within two hours,” he said adding that the law and order situation in state is excellent. He said that ample land was available in the state making it ‘land of opportunities’.
Some of the delegates appreciated state government’s work while others pointed out gaps that had to be filled. Panel discussions were held in ‘Global Skill Employment Partnership Summit’. Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan dedicated his entire time to the summit and stayed from inaugural to valedictory session.
In the inaugural session, the CM shared his thoughts on skill and employment, He said that in CM Kanya Vivah Yojana, organisers were not getting enough beauticians for bridal make up. “If girls are trained and financially assisted they can earn good money in village itself,” he said. He told delegates that youths of the state are highly disciplined and attentive.
Rojgar Nirman Board chairman Hemant Deshmukh said, “Once upon a time the largest contribution in GDP was done by agriculture and production sector. However, now it had been replaced by service sector. This is the correct time to improve our service sector”.
Industry and commerce minister Rajendra Shukla stressed that small investments generate more employment. Citing an example he said, 25,000 get employment by an investment of Rs 100 crore, while a cement factory set up with a cost of Rs 5,000 crore creates only 1,000 jobs. Technical education minister Deepak Joshi said that two engineering colleges of the state would be upgraded to national level institute in near future.
Chief secretary BP Singh said that 2,500 delegates from various companies participated in the summit. 619 Intention to employment proposal have been received under the programme 5,70,627 youths will get employment. 392 intention to skill development have been received. Under the programme 5,54,185 youths will get skill training.
Joint director of national skill development corporation Jyotsana said that the main problem faced in the state was of mentorship. “If the boy or a girl tells parents that they want to become entrepreneur, their parents will never allow them”. She called for mentorship sections to create more entrepreneurs in the society.
