Advisor Bhatnagar reviews progress on formulation of Skill plan for youth identified under B2V4 across J&K

JAMMU, January 03: Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar today chaired a high level meeting to review the progress on formulation of plan for skilling of youth identified under Back to Village-4 (B2V4) across Jammu and Kashmir at Civil Secretariat here.

The meeting was attended by Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Agriculture Production Department (APD), Atal Dulloo; Principal Secretary Education, Alok Kumar; Vice Chancellor SKUAST Jammu, Prof. J.P Sharma; Commissioner Secretary, RDD, Mandeep Kaur; Commissioner Secretary, Information Technology, Prerna Puri; Secretary Hospitality and Protocol, Talat Parvez Rohella; Director Industries and Commerce Kashmir, Saloni Rai; Secretary in Tribal Affairs Department, Mohammad Harun; Director General, Industries and Commerce, Jammu, Anoo Malhotra; Director SDD, Sudershan Kumar; Mission Director, JKRLM, Indu Kanwal Chib, Special Secretary SDD, Joint Director Budget and other senior officers of various departments both in person and through video conferencing.

Addressing the officers, Advisor Bhatnagar maintained that sector wise mapping of likely job opportunities in all sectors like industries, tourism, health care, power and others is need of the hour as it will reflect the job creating potential of these sectors. He emphasized upon the RDD to do the scope mapping of these sectors in coordination with these departments so that the youth are trained effectively in their areas of interest and also are able to get gainful employment The Advisor further asked for developing a curriculum for training of master trainers for counselling the youth in consultation with IIM Jammu so that they can be properly advised. He asked them to explore the option of having a one week foundation course before the start of regular training module so as to develop deeper interest among the identified youth.

The Advisor also directed the RDD to establish a robust counselling mechanism for the youth as it is vital for the successful implementation of the programme. He asked the Commissioner Secretary RDD to establish a coordination mechanism with Union Ministry of Skill Development as they run several schemes which can be leveraged The Advisor also directed the Commissioner Secretary RDD to establish a dedicated call centre for the counselling of youth in consultation with IIT Jammu.

Highlighting the need for proper training, Advisor Bhatnagar impressed upon the officers to start that training of master trainers at the end of this month and subsequently hold the training for other staff without any delay. He also called upon the officers to maximize awareness among youth about this programme through Social Media and other means.

The Advisor  emphasised that skill training programs need to start at the earliest by all the participating agencies and departments.

Speaking during the meeting, Atal Dulloo highlighted that Jammu and Kashmir has a tremendous potential of generating employment in different sectors and the departments need to work in tandem to utilise that potential.

During the meeting, Commissioner Secretary RDD gave a detailed presentation on the plan formulation and the progress achieved under this programme.