Women play important role in development of nation: Venkaiah Naidu

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Hyderabad: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday said that women play an important role in the development of families, communities and nations.

He quoted Gandhian scholar and educator, James Emmanuel's Kwegyir, "If you educate a man, you educate an individual; but if you educate a woman, you educate a family."

The Vice President said that with women constituting about 50 per cent of the country's population, every effort has to be made to empower them economically, politically and in every other field.

He further said that the respect accorded in ancient times to women has been missing in modern times and this contributed to lower literacy rates and lack of empowerment.

The Vice-President was addressing the gathering after laying foundation stone for the Regional Vocational Training Institute under the Government of India's initiative, Skill India 'Kaushal Bharat - Kushal Bharat'.

The Vice President said that Indians have inherent talent and ability for entrepreneurship and emphasized on the need for state-of-the-art training and enhancement of skills.

He said, "With rising demand for skilled personnel in various fields, more such training institutes must be established through collaborative efforts of the government, industry and NGOs."

With the literacy rate of women touching about 65.46 per cent in the country and rising steadily, Naidu emphasized on the fact that studies have shown that increasing women and girls' education contributes to higher economic growth.

He added that even though women constitute 50 per cent of the demographic dividends, the major challenge is to increase their participation in the country's workforce for faster economic growth.

"While there is an additional net requirement of 109.73 million skilled manpower by 2022 in 24 key sectors, it is estimated that only 4.7 per cent of the total workforce in India has undergone formal skill training as compared to 68 per cent in UK, 75 per cent in Germany, 80 per cent in Japan and 96 per cent in South Korea," he said.

He further said, "I am told that the Regional Vocational Training Institutes (RVTIs) are mainly set up to produce women instructors. In turn, these trained instructors will provide training to students through a network of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) all over the country."

These RVTIs are offering training in fashion design and technology, architectural assistantship, cosmetology, front office assistant, secretarial practice (English), food and beverages service assistant.

At other RVTIs, training is being offered in trades such as electronics mechanic, architectural draughtsmanship, computer operator, programming assistant, secretarial practice, cosmetology, dress making, catering, hospitality, interior decoration and designing.

He also reiterated his stance that RVTIs must also look into the possibility of imparting training in areas such as healthcare, travel and tourism industry, packaging and printing.

"Those undergoing training could also become successful entrepreneurs through proper guidance. Financial institutions like MUDRA bank could go a long way in promoting entrepreneurship among women. Linkages must be established with banks, SIDBI and MUDRA in order to promote the entrepreneurial talent among women," he concluded.