HRD, Commerce Ministries flagged concerns over National Skill Universities: Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy

New Delhi: The HRD and Commerce ministries have expressed certain reservations on the draft Bill to set up National Skill Universities and the issues are being examined, Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said on Thursday.

Since it was an intiative with long term implications, the views of the states have also been sought, Rudy, Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha.

Earlier, members in the Upper House had sought to know whether there was a time limit for the setting up of a Skills University.

Rudy told the members that a Working Group had been constituted on March 31, 2015 to lay down the road map for setting it up and the group has submitted its report.

He said the draft Bill was then circulated among ministries to which the HRD ministry and the Department of Industry Police and Promotion (DIPP) under the Commerce ministry expressed some reservations. The comments received were being examined, the Minister said.

He said the states also had not expressed any views and the ministry was pursuing it with them.

Some members asked about ITI students who worked as apprentices in PSUs and other employers not getting jobs.

Rudy said it was not possible for the government to provide jobs to every person but the attempt was to provide exposure and skills to a maximum so that individuals can find employment.

Members also raised questions relating to the Non Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) and North Eastern Council (NEC) schemes during 2016-17.

1,161 projects under these schemes are at different stages of implementation and during 2016-17, 76 ongoing projects each under NLCPR scheme and NEC have been completed so far, Minister of Development of North East Region Jitendra Singh said.

During the Question Hour, members also raised questions about education for physically challenged people.

Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot said that Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disablities does not run schools for physcially challenged on its own but model schools are run by some autonomous national institutes under it.

When a member asked whether the funds were being reduced for the education of physically handicapped, Gehlot said that there was no shortage of funds.

The funds may vary as per the number of students with a serious handicap, he said.