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    First round of reskilling plan for 50,000 migrant workers in Bihar

    Synopsis

    In the first round, the government plans to provide short-term training in new skills and locally demanded jobs to more than 130,000 people in 116 districts with the maximum number of 50,000 in Bihar alone, people aware of the development told ET.

    migramts-flight-ptiPTI
    The round will also provide short-term skill training to 30,000 migrant workers in Uttar Pradesh, 25,000 in Rajasthan, 18,000 in Madhya Pradesh, 4,000 in Odisha, and 2,000 in Jharkhand, they said.
    New Delhi:The first round of the central government’s reskilling training for migrant labour will start this month with maximum focus on poll-bound Bihar where thousands of workers who had returned home during the national lockdown are still stuck without work.

    In the first round, the government plans to provide short-term training in new skills and locally demanded jobs to more than 130,000 people in 116 districts with the maximum number of 50,000 in Bihar alone, people aware of the development told ET.

    The round will also provide short-term skill training to 30,000 migrant workers in Uttar Pradesh, 25,000 in Rajasthan, 18,000 in Madhya Pradesh, 4,000 in Odisha, and 2,000 in Jharkhand, they said. The government has obtained special permission from the Election Commission of India to permit skill training sessions across states even if elections or bypolls are being held.Commission officials said permissions have been given as these schemes were announced well before elections and there is precedence of such welfare schemes and measures being permitted during the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 as well as earlier.

    As per EC norms, the same must not be advertised, they said. Nearly 1.9 million migrants have returned to Bihar after the lockdown, as per the state’s disaster management department. Over 1.6 million of them are said to be of working age, that is, above the age of 18.

    Finding employment for them has been a major concern, and both the Centre and state government have been working on schemes for the same.

    While training will have begun in locally demanded jobs in 74 districts by October 30, it will cover all 116 districts by November 16.The focus of this short-term training is readying the migrant workers with skills and for jobs that are locally in demand. The idea is to generate employment for them in their native states and regions instead of having to travel to other states and cities for employment.

    To ensure that training translates into immediate employment, a demand survey was done in districts beforehand.Compilation of job demand related data from district collectors shows that the maximum of 40% of skilled labour is required in masonry, followed by 5% in carpentry, 4% in painting works and 3% in tailoring. The short term training initiated by the skill development and entrepreneurship ministry will be spread over three months.


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    ( Originally published on Oct 23, 2020 )
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