'PSUs in Steel & Mines Industry must act with a sense of urgency on skill development'

The public sector units (PSUs) in Steel & Mines Industry, should act with a sense of urgency and purpose in the area of skill development and employment generation, says the Union Minister of Steel & Mines.

The Dollar Business Bureau PSU Skills The Union Minister of Steel & Mines, Narendra Singh Tomar, on Tuesday, urged the Public Sector Units (PSUs) of the Steel & Mines Industry to focus on the area of skill development. The Minister was speaking at an interface meeting held between the Ministries of Steel & Mines and Ministry of Skill development & Entrepreneurship in New Delhi, on Tuesday, which was focused on Government of India’s skill development initiative. Speaking on the occasion, the Minister asked the PSUs part of the Steel & Mines industry to act with a sense of urgency and purpose in the area of skill development and employment generation. In the meeting, the PSUs related to the industry were further suggested to adopt a planned approach through a proper assessment of the need-based skill requirements, which can be either on a long-term or short-term basis. Stating that focused and planned approach can result in far-reaching impact, the Minister urged the PSUs to first set targets for their industry and then think on the requirements of upstream & downstream industries and the allied industries in at a further level. The Minister further urged them to start working on a larger scale cohesively instead of working separately on the small scale, while pitching for fast planning and early execution of the processes. Emphasizing on the need for 100% utilization of the seats for apprentices in the PSUs, the Minister asked the units to stay connected and updated with latest changes in legislations and law for a speedy action. In his address, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill development & Entrepreneurship, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, highlighted key areas of cooperation between the two ministries. These include identifying industry requirements, full-fledged utilization of Corporate Social Responsibility funds, contribution to the National Skill Development Fund, enhanced training facilities to the trainers and also the trainees, Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), ITI adoption and apprenticeships. The other issues that came into the discussion during the meeting include creation of new institutes of excellence, projects to conduct RPL for existing work force with a prime focus on the service providers, institution-industry collaboration, among others.