The government plans to launch a Skill Development Mission to help release the latent entrepreneurial energies of people, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia announced.

“We are working on the Skill Development Mission, which is vital for sustainable higher economic growth on sustainable basis,” he said while addressing a meeting organised by the CII here on Thursday.

“If the problem of skill deficit is not addressed, there is no way we can achieve the proposed 9 per cent growth during the 11th Five-Year Plan,” he said.

Mr Ahluwalia also indicated that the government was working on a proposal to develop Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) through private-public partnership (PPP) model.

Ambitious target
He suggested the introduction of short-term modular courses and issuing scholarship reimbursable vouchers to institutions that focus on skills development.

Mr Ahluwalia said that the government’s role was changing from that of a vocational training provider to a facilitator and partner in employment generation and skill development.  Pointing out that the 11th Plan has set an ambitious target of creating 70 million jobs between 2007 and 2012, he urged the CII to take up a project to rank the states on the basis of skill development. All the stakeholders — the Centre, states and the private sector — must build a consensus at the national level on  skills development, he said.