Jaya skips Sub-Group CMs meet, makes slew of suggestions

Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa today expressed her inability to attend a meeting of Sub-Group of Chief Ministers on skill development scheduled at Chhattisgarh due to "pressing commitments" even as she made some suggestions to be included in the Sub-Group's report.

In her letter to Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, who is chairing the meeting to be held today, she thanked him for inviting her and said as much as she would like to attend it, "I am unable to do so due to pressing commitments in Chennai."

She said that she had read the draft report of the first meeting held on April 25 and reiterated some other more important points needed to be included in the report.

She said "..on addressing the issue of skill development in demographically advantaged states, the interventions at the national level need to cover the needs of both sets of states, not just focus on the so called demographically advantaged states".

Noting that solutions to some issues that "demographically advantaged states" face may lie in the policy interventions, she said, "it is a matter of national priority to address the productivity gaps of the demographically mature states like Tamil Nadu, lest their populations grow old without fully enjoying the fruits of growth and development".

"One of the recommendations should be to undertake a comprehensive pan-India assessment of migration patterns, needs and aspirations, based on which, requisite policy interventions for both providers and absorbers of migrant labour can be formulated," she said.

Seeking clarity on the implementation of skill development projects nationwide, Jayalalithaa said, "it would be desirable for central government agencies, including the National Skill Development Corporation to confine themselves to national level standardisation, provision of financing and policy and legislative frameworks."

"The actual training delivery should be routed through and monitored by the state government agencies, which are better placed to mobilise candidates for training," she said.

On identification of skill development strategy sector-wise, she said, "this is clearly a task best done at the state level since the priority sectors would vary from state to state."

She said the Centre and the Ministry of Skill Development should intensify efforts towards universal adoption of National Skills Qualification Framework and clarify its linkage with the National Vocational Education Qualification Framework.

Jayalalithaa said the state government's scheme of providing free mixies, grinders and fans to poor households should be mentioned in the report, "which has to be seen in the context of enabling higher participation by women in workforce, by freeing them from domestic drudgery".

"The Pudhu Vazhvu Project (in Tamil Nadu) has served as a model for the National Rural Livelihood Mission. On this basis, a specific recommendation needs to be made that the National Rural and Urban Livelihood Missions must have a skill component which should be used as a key mechanism for mobilising women and youth for skill development."

Observing there was no mention of issues relating to persons with disabilities in the earlier report, she said, "A recommendation stating to ensure that persons with disabilities are effectively skilled, it is essential to identify skill training partners who have the requisite expertise and infrastructure to provide specialised training should be included in the report."