Reaching out to youths in the "hardcore of Maoist challenge area", a placement linked skill development scheme targeting 50,000 men and women will be launched in 27 districts on November 1, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said today.
He made the announcement on launch of programme "Roshni" while addressing a function on "Aajeevika Skill Development Programme in Most Critical Left Wing Extremist Affected Districts" of the country here.
"Roshni will be launched in a systematic way on November 1 in 27 districts. These districts, to my mind, constitute the hardcore of the Maoist challenge area. Our objective here is to train and place 50,000 youth over the next three years," Ramesh said.
At least 50 per cent of the candidates covered under "Roshni" will be women. The scheme will be implemented through training partners from the private and public sectors as well as non-profit organisations. Beneficiaries aged between 18-35 years from poor families will be selected and they will be trained for employment in many sectors.
"We should ensure an adequate number of women trained. That should be a non-negotiable. 50 per cent of them should be women," Ramesh said.
He, however, expressed concern over sending skilled tribal women to big cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, apprehending that they can be subjected to harassment and end up as "victims of exploitation", especially those who will be travelling for the first time out of their areas.
In a bid to ensure their post-placement care, the Minister suggested that there must be a help centre and helpline at the district-level directly under the control of the Superintendent of Police and Collector where they can contact any time in case of any difficulties they face with.
Noting that the bulk of the jobs are going to be migratory, Ramesh said the Government should pay far greater attention in the post placement scenario.
"We need to have a website, we need to have particulars of every girl trained. We need to have their family particulars and everybody should be given a phone, when they relocate, there is adequate allowance for relocation," he said.
