Rajiv Pratap Rudy inaugurating rubber skill development project
The skill development project for rubber plantation sector undertaken by the Rubber Board under the Pradhan Manthri Koushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) was formally inaugurated by Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, at a function held at the Rubber Research Institute of India (IRRI) auditorium.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said as per the data provided by the National Sample Survey Organisation, the percentage of skilled manpower in South Korea is 96 %, Japan 74 %, the UK
68 %, the US 55 % and Germany 65 %. Compared to this, the percentage of skilled manpower is only 3 per cent in India. The skill certification initiative of the Central Government aims to change this perception, he said.
The industry is facing a big demand-supply gap in trained manpower. Majority of those who pass out of engineering colleges do not have hands-on training and employability skills.
There is an imperative need to skill and reskill the workers in every sector. For instance, nearly 600,000 vehicles are coming to the roads every year and the country needs 100,000 professional drivers to meet the demand. The Union Government has plans to create a world class training centre for overseas employment, he said.
“Kerala is among the top rankers in skill development initiative. The state Government has an efficient skill development programme and if it submits more projects under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana the Centre would seriously consider partnering with the state Government,” Rudy said.
The Minister expressed his willingness to set up a skill development centre in Kerala if sufficient land is provided by the state Government.
Presiding over the function, V S Sunilkumar, Minister of Agriculture, Govt. of Kerala, said though Kerala produces 90% of rubber in India, the consumption in Kerala is only 30%. The state Government would like to partner with the Rubber Board. Since the Board is under the Commerce Ministry establishing linkages with the State Agriculture Department had met with problems. The Government would hold discussions with the Board to thrash out this issue, he said.
The state Government proposes to link Rubber Producers Societies(RPS) with local bodies so that they would be better equipped to set up group processing centres and undertake rubber products manufacturing, he added.
Earlier in his welcome address, A Ajith Kumar IAS, Executive Director, Rubber Board, said natural rubber sector in India has enormous scope for enhancing competitiveness through skill development. With 581,000 ha of mature rubber plantations and assuming a reasonable productivity of 1,600 kg/ha, India has the potential to produce more than 900,000 tonnes of NR, but production in 2015-16 was much lower at 562,000 tonnes.
As a result of the measures taken by the Board to improve productivity, reduce cost and enhance quality, the declining trend in rubber production recorded a mild reverse trend from May 2016 and production increased by more than 10% during April-October 2016 as compared to the previous year, he said.
Vishal Sharma, Chief Programme Officer, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), and K Biju IAS, Managing Director, Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE), spoke on the occasion. P Sudha, Director (Training), Rubber Board, made a presentation on the project. Viju Chacko, Secretary, Rubber Board, proposed a vote of thanks.
The skill development project for rubber plantation sector is implemented by the Board in collaboration with NSDC and Rubber Skill Development Council (RSDC).
The scheme, which aims to develop, improve and certify skill of Indian youth, is planned for implementation during 2016-20.
Under the scheme, two major job roles, namely Latex Harvest Technician (tapper) and Latex Processing Technician, have been identified in plantation sector with the objective to ensure availability of skilled human resources to rubber plantation industry. The Rubber Board proposes to certify the majority of tappers in India by 2020 under the scheme. Ten thousand tappers will be trained in the first phase.
The post India launches rubber skill development project appeared first on Rubber Asia.