By IANS,
New Delhi : The union cabinet Thursday approved setting up the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to meet the needs of the private sector for skilled personnel in different fields.
The Planning Commission had proposed to set up a co-ordinated mechanism for skill development encompassing different public and private initiatives. The cabinet approved this at its meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
After the meeting, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said the ministries and other departments would continue to be responsible for the skill development programmes under them.
“NSDC will take care of the skill development in the private sector,” Chidambaram said.
Chidamabaram said that Rs.10 billion were provided for the initiative and the amount would subsequently go up to Rs.150 billion.
The finance minister said that coordinated action was aimed at creating a pool of skilled personnel in appropriate numbers with adequate skills in line with the employment requirements across the country.
He said special emphasis would be laid on nearly two dozen high-growth, high-employment sectors like automobile, heath care services, banking, organised retail, insurance, construction, pharmaceuticals, food processing, textile, media, entertainment, and tourism.