In keeping with the Justice Rajinder Sachar Committee report, Union Minister of State for Labour Oscar Fernandes today said his ministry was giving “maximum importance” to vocational training with a view to creating a world-class skilled labour force.

“As per the suggestions of the Sachar report, the Director General for Employment and Training (DGET) has initiated action to provide skills to youth with lesser educational qualifications through the Skill Development Initiative Scheme in areas and clusters which have significant population of Muslims,” Fernandes said, while outlining the government’s plans for a massive national skill development mission at the Economic Editors’ conference today.

The objective of the scheme, under which skill development courses would be available for persons having passed Class V in any school or madrasa, is to improve employment opportunities. “These qualifications have been prescribed keeping in mind the level of knowledge required to understand the contents of the course curriculum and other related life skills,” said Fernandes.

The DGET has already developed 211 modules of different sets of employable skills that can be learnt at the existing and new Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in the pipeline. Of these, those having passed Class V are eligible for as many as 84 courses. “The ministry has also submitted a proposal for opening 1,500 new ITIs in blocks that do not have them so far,” said Fernandes.

The government is also considering increasing the national minimum wage, as laid down in the MInimum Wages Act, 1948, from the existing Rs 66 per day to Rs 80 per day. This was last revised in 2004.