Director GSDS Shri Dipanker Shri Gyan convened an on-line meeting on the functioning of a project sanctioned by the Government of Uttar Pradesh under the aegis of the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India to Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti. The virtual meeting on June 13, 2020 was attended by Shri Basant Singh (Karigar Panchayat); Dr. Vedabhyas Kundu, Programme Officer, GSDS; Shri S A Jamal, former Administrative Officer, GSDS; Shri Rajdeep Pathak, Programme Executive, GSDS; Shri Bishwajit Singh, Project Lead/Head of the sanctioned project with his team of Ms. Pooja Singh, Mr. Chandan Gupta, Mr. Mukund Milind, Ms. Ruby Mishra; Ms. Kanak Kaushik, GSDS and Ms. Prerna Jindal, GSDS.
The meeting began with a presentation by Shri Bishwajit who elaborated on the success story of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushalya Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) that was initiated by the GSDS and almost 2000 auto drivers from Champaran Bihar plying their autos in Delhi were trained along with another 2000 auto drivers who were trained in the second phase in 2018-19. He mentioned that it was not just a training that catered to their certification and assessment (as per the RPL program), an overall development in terms of their education, health and finance management was also taken care. He mentioned that for the first time the auto drivers felt empowered with their certification and when their children were enrolled with the IGNOU for various correspondence courses, they family felt much more happier and hopeful.
While presenting the modalities of the DDU-GKY project that has been sanctioned, Shri Bishwajit said that DDU-GKY is the flagship Skilling program under Ministry of Rural Development, Govt of India, specifically and broadly formulated for employment of the rural youth of India.
The major highlight of the program is that it focuses on complete hand holding of rural youth starting from their travel to lodging and food, dress up to skilling and placement. So much effort is worth the view point that financial deprived rural youth does not have to worry about any logistics and they should focus on skilling and excelling in life.
The most important part of the project is that it does not simply focuses on placements. It actually focuses on what he called, ‘sustained’, ‘continuous’ and ‘progressive’ placement to empower rural youth to empower India in what the Prime Minister also stated in his address to the Nation on ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.
He further mentioned that the projects sanctioned under the DDU-GKY are presently for Uttar Pradesh in the districts of Lucknow and Sonebhadra where initiatives will also be taken towards: a) empowering people in stitching and embroidery and b) for imparting training in GST. Stressing on the impact on employment that will be generated, Shri Bishwajit also mentioned that more impetus will be provided on value addition for all the training that will be provided as part of this project.
He also spoke on the modalities of the DDU-GKY project stating the number of candidates to be accommodated per training, the monetary aspect of the entire project, the linkages between the UPSCM (Uttar Pradesh Skill Development Mission); SRLM (State Rural Livelihood Mission); MORD (Ministry of Rural Development – the apex ministry) and so on.
Several queries were raised beginning with Shri Dipanker Shri Gyan who while expressing the challenges for the timely completion of the project, to the disbursement of sanctioned budget in four instalments, to a modus operandi curriculum, hostel management (in specific areas). He also stressed on the value addition training to be provided by the GSDS which he felt should be sent as guidelines to the States for implementation and should work towards what he called a ‘centre of excellence’.
Shri Basantji while congratulating the team for getting the project sanctioned said that this project could see many Gandhian organisations come back to life once again for these organisations can provide training, but not placements. He also shared his concern over the challenges between distance and the professional training that has to be covered and pointed to catering to local experts and resources. “We have to go to the villages he said”. He also pointed his idea of outsourcing and made it clear that whosoever works for the project, must be initially told clearly about the same.
True to the mandate and legacy of GSDS, the chosen location and job roles of the project, are completely aimed at livelihood generation for the rural population, which has also been a major thrust area for the government due to COVID impact on local society and local economy apart from the macro impact.
Therefore, the tribal area of Sonebhadra and the textile artisan populated area of Lucknow are very pertinent and so are the job roles of Swing machine operator and GST Executive. Further, it is important to note that both job roles have been clubbed with add on training of supplementary job roles to ensure Sustained, Continuous and progressive placement to empower rural youth, which is the core focus of DDU-GKY, reliving the dreams of Sarvodaya of Mahatma Gandhi and Antodaya of Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya.
Director GSDS concluded the meeting by authorising Shri Bishwajit to make necessary changes in the project. The next meeting is scheduled for June 28 to discuss the implementation strategies and other necessary details related to the project.