TAWANG, Sep 11: The country’s first home stay skill development programme under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) was launched here on Monday at the Zomkhang Hall.
Supported by the Department of Industries and Tourism, the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), in partnership with YouthNet, Nagaland is the training provider of the PMKVY.
This flagship programme of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship aims to train 10 million people over a span of four years (2016-2020).
Considering the need for developing quality home stays in the Northeast, a special project to train 200 women from the region was approved by the NSDC, out of which, 25 women candidates are from Tawang, who are either running home stays or are upcoming home stay entrepreneurs.
The training is followed up with setting up of home stay for the participants and registration on various online portals.
The 52-day training programme will focus and cover basic tenets of hospitality, how to set up and maintain a home stay, marketing of their home stay and improving customer service.
Inaugurating the programme, Parliamentary Secretary for RWD and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Jambey Tashi shared the importance of home stays in building the economy of the state, especially in towns like Tawang and Ziro where tourism has been growing in leaps and bounds.
Underscoring the importance of professionalism in hospitality and tourism Industry, Jambey reiterated enhancement of the same was not restricted to traditional professions in today’s time. He felt there was no dearth of potential in Tawang district and it was important for youth to be equipped with fundamental knowledge and ethics for quality customer service and exhorted the participants to attend the training programme with full enthusiasm to better equip themselves in their chosen field.
He requested all the stakeholders, including government servants to dedicate themselves for successful implementation of the central government flagship scheme.
Elaborating on various key components of Skill Development and Capacity Building Training Programmes, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (SD&E) Director, Subu Tabin also requested the youth to come forward and avail benefits of the same. He dwelt on the role of the new Directorate of SD&E that aims to skill youth of the state through Industrial Training Centres, including the newly launched PMKVY which was on a ‘mission mode’.
“Along with empowering the youth by creating opportunities for self employment, the department is also focused at preserving the traditional art and crafts, many of which are at risk of disappearance”, he said.
Representatives of NSDC and YouthNet, Nagaland explained the course contents of the training programme to participants.
Later, The SD&E Director, along with NSDC Coordinator for North East Nishtha Vengurlekar, Director Youth Net Nagaland Lezo Putsure, District Tourism Officer and Assistant Director Industries Tawang visited few local home stays operating in nearby villages. (DIPRO)
