Free skills training course finds appeal across sections

For 18-year-old Rahul from northwest Delhi’s Samaypur Badli, who wants to become a civil servant but could not afford to enroll in a coaching class, a free skills training programme of the government has come as a ray of hope. He plans to pick up some skills and pay for his coaching after the course, as it assures placements to successful students.

From civil services aspirants to single mothers have found their way to the training programme that was launched by the Delhi government’s social welfare department in collaboration with the Centre’s National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC) on a pilot basis this July. It is open to people in the age-group 18-35 years.

The department aims to bring the unemployed and marginalised sections into the mainstream by providing gainful employment under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY).

The programme imparts training in four sectors, including food and beverages steward, front office associates, general duty attendants and lab technicians for emergency medical services.

A total of 1,650 seats have been allocated for the four courses. So far, over 300 students have enrolled in the first batch across the seven centres .

The three-month long courses are being run from seven “smart centres” across the city located at — Tilak Nagar, Geeta Colony, East of Kailash, Sundar Nagari, Madipur, Rohini, and Dwarka. For every course, two batches run from morning to evening.

Shabana, 27, who is a single mother to two children has enrolled in the hospitality sector course. She said she came to know of the course from an aanganwadi centre in her neighbourhood. “I used to work as a telecaller for a company earlier and was paid a meagre sum,” she said, adding, “Here the uniform is also better where I look like a respectable future employee.”

Most aspirants here said they wanted better command over English and hoped to gain it here.

Rashmi Krishnan, secretary, social welfare department, said, the department also plans to develop a website for this purpose where candidates could register themselves and apply for the courses.

Candidates were enrolled during an outreach exercise by the department.

“We are catering to training and employment needs for residents of Delhi. We plan to translate skills into gainful employment. We have asked the training partners to ensure 80% placement while remaining 20% expected to open their own ventures,” she said.

First Published: Aug 20, 2019 11:21 IST