TN CM for developing skills of persons with disabilities

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa recommended inclusion of issues relating to skill development of persons with disabilities in a report of skill development, which was discussed in a meeting, which she had to skip due to some pressing commitments.

“To ensure persons with disabilities are effectively skilled, it is essential to identify skill training partners who have the requisite expertise and infrastructure to provide the specialised training, she added.

She also suggested that it would be desirable for Central government agencies like the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to confine themselves to national level standardisation, accreditation and certification functions, provision of financing and policy and legislative frameworks.

“Actual training delivery should be routed through and monitored by State government agencies, which are better placed to mobilise candidates for training,” she said.

On the issue of skill development in demographically advantaged states, Jayalalithaa said interventions at the national level need to cover needs of both sets of states and “not just focus on the so called demographically advantaged states.

She recommended undertaking a comprehensive pan-India assessment of migration patterns, needs and aspirations, based on which requisite policy interventions for both providers and absorbers of migrant labour can be formulated

“It is a matter of national priority to address the productivity gaps of the demographically mature states like Tamil Nadu, lest their populations grow old without fully enjoying the fruits of growth and development,” she said.

While in a report published by Press Information Bureau, the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Thaawar Chand Gehlot, had said that the Government is committed to the holistic empowerment of persons with disabilities through education, rehabilitation and especially skill development and employment.

Gehlot said that the National Action Plan is a partnership between the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disability for skilling 2.5 million Person with Disability (PwD) over seven years.

Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment had also taken the initiative to conduct the 1st Indian Open Paralympics Games 2015 in New Delhi from May 2 to 9, 2015 for promoting the talents of the differently abled community in sports.”