MSDE launches novel initiatives under SANKALP to strengthen District Skill Committees and promote inclusive growth
Jammu, February 15, 2021: In a bid to strengthen the district skill administration and District Skill Committees (DSCs), the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) today announced the national rollout of Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF) Programme under World Bank loan assisted program SANKALP (Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion) to further strengthen the district skill administration and the District Skill Committees (DSCs).
The two-year academic program comes with an in-built component of on-ground practical experience with the district administration. The fellows under MGNF will acquire academic expertise and technical competency in understanding the overall skill ecosystem along with being attached to DSCs and help them manage the skill development planning at district level through the mechanism of formulating District Skill Development Plans (DSDPs).
With the successful launch of MGNF in the first pilot (MGNF) which had 69 fellows working across 69 districts, the Ministry is now expanding MGNF to all remaining districts in the country. For retaining the standard of academic excellence and reputation in MGNF, the Ministry is seeking academic partnership with only the IIMs and has roped in nine IIMs namely – IIM Bangalore, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Lucknow, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Visakhapatnam, IIM-Udaipur, IIM Nagpur, IIM Ranchi, and IIM-Jammu for The national roll-out of MGNF.
To further bolster the trainer ecosystem, the SANKALP program will also support in Training of Trainer (ToT) system in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model that a collaborative approach between industry and the technical and vocational education and training (TVET)ecosystem.
Sharing his views on these initiatives, Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, said, “The last 6 years of Skill India have extensively focused on capacity building and creating infrastructure support for vocational training across the country. Our partnerships going forward will be more focused on strengthening the overall quality of skill training. With the recent launch of PradhanMantriKaushalVikasYojana 3.0 and today’s academic partnerships with IIMs, IITs, GIZ-IGVET, KILA under our SANKALP scheme, together we will empower the districts ensuring demand-driven skilling. I am confident that these programs will boost our efforts to bring in a transformational change and impact on our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of building an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat.”
On the launch of various programs under SANKALP, Praveen Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said, “All the programs launched today are aligned with our focus on strengthening the quality and availability of resources at ground level to support the District Skills Committees in their skill development and training outreach. The various programs in association with leading academic, technical and state departments such as IIMs and IITs will further help in improving the training standards, fortifying capabilities of trainers, and also boost more women participation across various skilling programs under PMKVY 3.0.”
