Government has taken special measures to provide skill based training to differently-abled people
Under Skill India Mission, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) is implementing its flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) for Skill based training of the youth across the country including the differently-abled candidates under Short Term Training (STT) courses and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). STT is linked to placement while RPL recognises the existing skills of the candidate and does not mandate placement. Further, there is an exclusive Sector Skill Council for differently-abled, namely Skill Council for PwD (SCPwD) for catering to the needs of the differently-abled candidates and run training in PwD-friendly training centres (TCs). Such centres are structurally designed to enable differently-abled candidates to experience training with ease. These training centres are structurally designed to cover Braille, computer screen reader for visually impaired, sign language interpreter for speech and hearing impaired etc. In addition, other Training Centers can also enroll differently-abled candidates.
Further, National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD), Noida, an autonomous Entrepreneurship Development Institute under MSDE has conducted various training programmes covering 1,95,395 beneficiaries during the last five years (2017-18 to 2021-2022) which includes 1,907 differently-abled candidates.
Further, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) (Divyangjan), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment implements a “National Action Plan (NAP) for Skill Development of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs)” which was launched in March, 2015. The objective of the scheme is to provide skill training to PwDs for enabling them to become self-reliant and productive members of the society and to integrate them with the mainstream of the society. NAP is implemented under the umbrella scheme – “Scheme for Implementation of Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 (SIPDA)”. Under NAP, for imparting training to persons with disabilities including PwDs in rural areas in the age group of 15 to 59 years, fund is released in three instalments to training partners (ETPs) empanelled from Government (GOs) and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) across Country as per Common Norms guidelines of M/o Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar in a written reply in the LokSabha today.
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NB/AK