NEW DELHI - Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday launched the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), which has been mandated to skill 30 percent of the overall target of 500 million people by the year 2022.

It is a unique Public-Private Partnership (PPP) enterprise, which has been incorporated as a not-for-profit organization under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 by the Ministry of Finance, and formed as 51:49 shareholding of private and Government.

“The important role assigned to NSDC consists of harnessing the energies of the private sector in supplementing the efforts being made by various Government entities. The specific mandate of the NSDC is to stimulate and co-ordinate private sector initiatives in the skill development sector, with a view to realizing the core vision of the Prime Minister’s Skill Development Council,” Mukherjee said.

“The vision outlined by the Prime Minister’s Council calls for serious up-scaling of the skill development targets. Hence, as against 40 million people currently, who have received any kind of formal or non-formal training, the vision envisages creation of a pool of 500 million skilled people by 2022,” he added.

Mukherjee further said that the vision also emphasizes a high degree of inclusivity, which shall effectively deal with the current divide prevailing in our society, such as gender, rural and urban, organized and un-organized employment.

He also highlighted that in order to achieve the mission outlined in the vision, it has become crucial for the Government to engage with the private sector, through long-term partnerships to achieve synergy in delivery and implementation. (ANI)