OREANDA-NEWS. The MoU was signed between the Defence Secretary Shri G Mohan Kumar and his counterpart from MSDE Shri Sunil Arora in presence of the Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar and Minister of State for MSDE (Independent Charge) Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

Speaking on the occasion, the Defence Minister said that the MoU will provide impetus to using the skills of servicemen for the country when they retire from the Armed Forces. The servicemen will also take to civilian life some rare skills which they acquire during their service life. The Minister of State for MSDE also said that there are differences in nomenclature of jobs in certain cases that the servicemen do in the Armed Forces and in the civilian field and these need to be aligned. He expressed confidence that the MoU will be a harbinger of skill development in the country.

The MoU will boost employability and acceptability of Ex-servicemen (ESM) by the industry for those service personnel who are on the verge of retirement or already retired. Moreover, to enhance their employability, these training facilities initiated by the Director General Resettlement (DGR) will be aligned with the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) developed by the Sector Skill Councils (SSCs).

The signed MoU, will provide an opportunity for the Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) and Ordnance Factories (OFs) to participate in skill development initiatives. As per Ministry of Human Resources Development Scheme in schools which are run by the Ministry of Defence (excluding Sainik Schools), it will also introduce vocational education at 9 – 12 class in a phased manner.

The MoU signed will train and provide gainful employment to approximately 3 lakh ESM/their family members in five years starting from this financial year. It will also make available skilled youth to DPSUs and OFs by using their infrastructure, CSR funds, establishment of Centre(s) of Excellence and Development of Model ITIs etc.

At the apex level, a steering committee chaired by the Defence Minister and Co-Chaired by the Minister of State for Skill Development will provide necessary policy direction for the implementation of this ambitious scheme. The Executive Committee for this scheme to be chaired by the Defence Secretary and Co-Chaired by the Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship will oversee the smooth roll out of the clauses of the MoU. For the successful execution of the scheme, three separate implementation teams have been formed. While the DGR will head the ESM resettlement team, the DPSUs related components will be looked after by the Joint Secretary (ES), Department of Defence Production and respective education boards of Army, Navy and Air Force will lead their respective education component. The Programme Management Unit (PMU) will assist the Steering Committee and the Executive Committee.