Hyderabad: Skill development courses fail to draw jobless Minorities

Hyderabad: The lack of proper awareness about the job-oriented skill development programmes initiated by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India, is one of the primary reasons behind a significant increase in unemployment rate among the minority community in Telangana.

Though the Ministry of Minority Affairs has introduced Medical Laboratory Technician (MLT) and Nursing courses to upgrade skills among the unemployed youth of the minority community, the strength at the Skill Development Centres in the city, which are conducting these training programmes, is very low with large part of the targeted community being unaware of these programmes.

"With no fee required to pursue the courses, the students can enjoy the stipend of Rs 2,000 at least once or twice under the 'Seekho Aur Kamao' programme till the completion of the course duration that spreads over six to nine months. During the later stage of the courses, the students will be provided On Job Training (OJT) where they would be acclimatised to the real-time experience of using syringes, administering medicines and mainly about blood transfusion," informed Saber Yamani, coordinator Spice Skill India LLP, Skill Development Centre, at Yerra Kunta, Pahadi Shareef.

"While there are 400 seats available at our Centre, only 150 or 200 students are presently pursuing the MLT course," he said, adding that these job-oriented courses would guarantee employment after the completion of training.

"As the MLT course has entered into an advanced stage, the admissions are still open into Nursing course with a duration of six months. Initially, a significant number of students were enrolled for the courses. However, the strength gradually came to half despite the fact that 5 out of 10 students got placement in various health care centres in the city soon after successfully completing the course in the past," he explained.

"These courses would ensure placements in several corporate hospitals, clinics and other health care centres and even open avenues for job opportunities abroad. Besides, they also help students transform themselves into professionals at a later stage. These courses should be given a wider range of publicity to allow more and more unemployed youth avail these opportunities and improve themselves with more professional skills," opined Syed Ali, a community activist.