New Delhi, Feb 14 (UNI) The Ministries of Women and Child Development (WCD) and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship are partnering to empower the women and youth of the country with skilling in every segment where India is competent to make a mark, Minister of WCD Smriti Zubin Irani said on Friday.
She was speaking at the inaugural session of the day-long national Conference on Policy Framework for Skilling of Women and Children being held in the city.
In his opening remarks at the inaugural session, Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Mahendra Nath Pandey said that India’s demographic dividend, where 65 per cent of the population is in the working age group of 29 years, gives an opportunity for India to be the skill capital of the world.
'To harness India’s advantage in human capital the Skill India Mission envisions translating India’s demographic advantage into productivity dividend by enabling jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities in sync with the aspirations and abilities of India’s youth,' the Minister said.
He further said that since women participation in the labour force for India is low at 17.5 per cent, skill development becomes critical for women empowerment as it has positive correlation not only with better economic opportunities but also overall with social recognition, confidence and financial independence.
'While Government’s skill programmes, both short term and long term, through Industrial Training Institutes do not discriminate against women in terms of participation, we need dedicated interventions to make the overall skill ecosystem more responsive and friendly for the female participants,' the Minister added.
According to the sixth economic census (2013-14), 14 per cent or 8.05 million establishments were owned by women in India.
To enable breaking of the glass ceiling, women should feel safe, secure and free to pursue their passion. Government of India has taken a comprehensive view of providing security to women transcending beyond physical security to cover aspects related to healthcare, social empowerment (through Swachh Vidyalaya, Ujjwala), differentiated financial incentives to working women and dedicated interventions to educate the girl child, she said.
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