Mysuru:  Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Anant Kumar Hegde held an interaction on ‘Skill On Wheels’ in city this morning. The interaction was held on the sidelines of ‘Skills on Wheels’ initiative that takes forward Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Skill India Mission.’

The event was organised at Hotel Southern Star by Skill India, Apna Desh and National Skill Development Corporation.

Addressing over 25 participants, Hegde said that his Ministry is responsible for co-ordination of all skill development efforts across the country, removal of disconnect between demand and supply of skilled manpower, skill up-gradation, building of new skills,  and innovative thinking.

“Skill India is an initiative of Government of India which has been launched to empower the youth of the country with skill sets which make them more employable and more productive in their work environment,” he said. ‘Skill On Wheels’ initiative will be launched tomorrow.

“Skill India offers courses across 40 sectors in the country which are aligned to the standards recognised by both, the industry and the Government under the National Skill Qualification Framework. The courses help a person focus on practical delivery of work and help him enhance his technical expertise so that he is ready for day one of his job and companies don’t have to invest into training him for his job profile,” he added.

The Government has initiated various programmes and the result of which will show after two years. “For the first time in 68 years of India’s independence, a Ministry for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has been formed to focus on enhancing employability of the youth through skill development,” he explained.

The target to train more than a crore fresh entrants into the Indian workforce has been substantially achieved for the first time. In all, 1.04 Crore Indians were trained through Central Government programmes and associated training partners in the private sector, he said.

Later, the Minister addressed a press conference and refused to speak about politics and his visit to Hunsur for Hanuma Jayanti celebrations.

MLA Vasu, Skill India trainers M. Shivanna, D. Srihari of GSS Foundation and former DGP Shankar Bidari, Srinivas Bhat and others were present.