Prasad was speaking at the fourth anniversary of Skill India
He is the Indian Minister of Communications and Minister of Law and Justice
He claimed that there are currently 282 mobile factories in India
Speaking at the fourth anniversary of Skill India programme, Indian Minister of Communications and Minister of Law and Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the government is aiming to make India a major export hub of electronics manufacturing.
According to the minister, India is the second biggest manufacturer of smartphones in the world. India has 282 mobile factories as compared to just two factories in 2014, he added.
There are currently 121 Cr mobile phones in the country, out of which 60 Cr are smartphones, according to the minister. He also stressed on the fact that these mobile phone factories serve as the major employers of youth.
Further, the increased smartphone adoption in rural India has also opened up the need for new skills training courses such as mobile repair, he added.
He added that schemes such as Digital India had sought to fill the digital divide in our country. This has been realised through various government initiatives such as aadhaar enrollment, Jan Dhan Yojana, and increased mobile phone penetration.
In addition to this, setting up 3 Lakh Common Service Centres (CSC) across the country has also contributed to the government’s Digital India and Skill India mission, as it helped in making 1.5 Cr. rural population digitally literate and also employed 12 Lakh youth at these centres.
Further talking about expanding the reach of digital initiatives, he said, major encashment for ecommerce is in rural India because malls are not there but aspirations exist. “Postman is a very important part of India, as the postal network is spread across india — ecommerce deliveries can be empowered by our postal network,” he added.
Ravi Shankar Prasad also said that the government initiatives such as Startup India, Standup India, and Make In India will not succeed unless Skill India does.
The government has also announced today that every year, 1 Cr youth are being enrolled under the Skill India initiative. Till now, 67 lakh people have been trained, while 25K PM Kaushal Kendras have been setup across the country. Thanks to Skill India, 4.45 Lakh trainees have been given apprenticeship training every year, according to the government’s announcement today (July 15).
Further, it also announced that 271 Jan Shikshan Sansthan centres for skill training across 27 states and 2 union territories have been established in the country. These centres have enabled the training of over 8 Lakh students in skills such as soft toy creation, baking, tailoring and other vocations.
