Udaan scheme getting very good response in J&K: Anant Kumar Hegde
Kolkata, June 20: The 'Udaan' programme to provide skills training to the educated unemployed youth in Jammu and Kashmir, has received a "very good response" from the people there, said Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Anant Kumar Hegde on Wednesday.
"A scheme named Udaan is going on in Kashmir. The state government, Home Ministry and our Ministry are jointly working towards implementing it.
"So far it has received a very good response from the people there," Hegde told the reporters in the sidelines of a session on 'Human Resources Development for Socio-Economic Development' here.
Asked about his Ministry's initiative to upskill the unemployed youth of Kashmir, who are getting involved in criminal activities like throwing stones at the Indian armed forces personnel, the minister said the Udaan scheme is uniquely designed for the youths of Kashmir to bring them back to the mainstream.
"It is a unique scheme for Jammu and Kashmir. It is primarily for the youths and also the people who surrender to the administration there. They are given skills training for one or two years during their rehabilitation programme," Hedge added.
However, the minister refused to comment on the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir after the Bharatiya Janata Party pulled out of ruling coalition with the Peoples Democratic Party on Tuesday, stating it can be best answered by the Home Ministry.
Udaan is a special industry initiative for Jammu and Kashmir in the nature of partnership between the corporates of India and Home Affairs Ministry and implemented by National Skill Development Corp.
It aims to cover 40,000 youth over a period of five years and Rs 750 crore has been earmarked for its implementation.
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Hospital wall collapse: CM orders suspension of executive engineer; kin of victims get solatium
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday ordered the immediate suspension of an executive engineer for the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital wall collapse that claimed the lives of seven people, during a high-level review meeting at Vidhana Soudha.
A compensation of Rs 5 lakh, as announced by the CM Siddaramaiah, was distributed to the families of seven victims who lost their lives in the tragedy on Wednesday evening, which occurred due to heavy downpour with gusty winds and hailstorm.
The meeting of municipal commissioners of the five corporations, chaired by the chief minister and attended by Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, focused on fixing accountability and examining lapses that led to the tragedy.
"Why was soil dumped in a way that damaged the wall? Why did you not monitor this?" Siddaramaiah asked, pulling up hospital authorities during the meeting.
A statement from the chief minister's office said that the CM ordered the immediate suspension of the executive engineer of the Karnataka Health Systems Development Project (KHSDP).
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He also questioned the hospital authorities, asking why they failed to monitor the dumping of soil that weakened the structure.
The chief minister directed that a notice be issued to the head of the Hospital.
During the meeting, Siddaramaiah said the rains had caused extensive damage in the city, with over 250 trees uprooted.
The Chief Minister instructed officials to take necessary measures before the onset of the monsoon to avoid untoward incidents.
Commissioners of all five municipal zones in Bengaluru have been asked to take precautionary steps, including trimming dry and dangerous tree branches, the CMO said.
Siddaramaiah also directed them to get the silt cleared from stormwater drains to prevent flooding, and that immediate action be taken to remove debris and fallen branches from roads.
Further, he instructed that barricades be placed at underpasses where water stagnates and restricts public movement.
The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Chief Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao said in a statement that Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad distributed compensation cheques of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the deceased on Thursday.
Seven people, including a six-year-old girl, were killed and seven others injured when the compound wall collapsed amid heavy rain, strong winds and a hailstorm on Wednesday evening.
Police said the victims, comprising three from Bengaluru, two from Kerala on a study tour and one each from Uttar Pradesh and Assam, had taken shelter near the wall when it suddenly gave way, trapping them under the debris.
The chief minister questioned officials over the dumping of soil near the wall despite knowing it could weaken the structure, and directed that a notice be issued to the head of Bowring Hospital.
Siddaramaiah, who had visited the spot soon after the incident along with senior officials, reviewed the situation and ordered a detailed probe into the collapse.
