India aims to develop 1 million skilled workers for govt initiatives under PM Kushal Vikas Yojna 4.0
New Delhi: The Indian government is set to cultivate a workforce of one million skilled workers to meet the rising demand for trained personnel across its flagship schemes involving a dozen central ministries. The Ministry of Skills Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has begun consultations with 12 central ministries to assess their specific requirements for skilled labor to support the effective implementation of these initiatives, according to a senior government official.
Training for these candidates will be conducted under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0, the ministry's flagship skilling program, over the next two years.Candidates will receive either short-term skills training courses or certifications recognizing their prior learning, tailored to align with available skill sets.
Ongoing discussions include collaborations with the Ministry of Home Affairs for the Vibrant Village Programme, the Ministry of Women and Child Development for the VIKALP initiative, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) for the Semiconductor Mission, and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy for projects like green hydrogen and the Surya Ghar-Muft Bijli Yojana, among others.
The official noted that preliminary training has already commenced for some programs, while talks are underway with various stakeholder ministries to launch pilot initiatives aimed at imparting skills training to select candidates in additional schemes. “This approach will not only accelerate skills training across the country but also create a skilled workforce equipped for new-age technologies and government programs, ensuring their smooth rollout and effective implementation,” the official explained.
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Supreme Court rejects plea for reverting to ballots in elections
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking to revert to ballot paper voting in elections in the country.
"What happens is, when you win the election, EVMs (electronic voting machine) are not tampered. When you lose the election, EVMs are tampered (with)," remarked a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and P B Varale.
Apart from ballot paper voting, the plea sought several directions including a directive to the Election Commission to disqualify candidates for a minimum of five years if found guilty of distributing money, liquor or other material inducement to the voters during polls.
When petitioner-in-person K A Paul said he filed the PIL, the bench said, "You have interesting PILs. How do you get these brilliant ideas?".
The petitioner said he is the president of an organisation which has rescued over three lakh orphans and 40 lakh widows.
"Why are you getting into this political arena? Your area of work is very different," the bench retorted.
After Paul revealed he had been to over 150 countries, the bench asked him whether each of the nations had ballot paper voting or used electronic voting.
The petitioner said foreign countries had adopted ballot paper voting and India should follow suit.
"Why you don't want to be different from the rest of the world?" asked the bench.
There was corruption and this year (2024) in June, the Election Commission announced they had seized Rs 9,000 crore, Paul responded.
"But how does that make your relief which you are claiming here relevant?" asked the bench, adding "if you shift back to physical ballot, will there be no corruption?".
Paul claimed CEO and co-founder of Tesla, Elon Musk, stated that EVMs could be tampered with and added TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, the current chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, and former state chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had claimed EVMs could be tampered with.
"When Chandrababu Naidu lost, he said EVMs can be tampered with. Now this time, Jagan Mohan Reddy lost, he said EVMs can be tampered with," noted the bench.
When the petitioner said everybody knew money was distributed in elections, the bench remarked, "We never received any money for any elections."
The petitioner said another prayer in his plea was the formulation of a comprehensive framework to regulate the use of money and liquor during election campaigns and ensuring such practices were prohibited and punishable under the law.
The plea further sought a direction to mandate an extensive voter education campaign to raise awareness and importance of informed decision making.
"Today, 32 per cent educated people are not casting their votes. What a tragedy. If democracy will be dying like this and we will not be able to do anything then what will happen in the years to come in future," the petitioner said.
