In a bid to help the nation fight the Covid-19 and help the various stakeholders overcome the hardships, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has taken a number of steps.

1. MSDE has sent contact details (mobile numbers and email addresses) of 1,75,000 health sector professionals located in different states to all Chief Secretaries. These professionals, trained under MSDE Skill ecosystem, are Health workers, Emergency Medical Technicians, General Duty Assistants, Phlebotomy Technicians, Home Health Aid Technicians etc. Their services could be utilised by States for isolation and quarantine duties under Covid-19.  NSDC has appointed nodal officers in each state.  They are in contact with state administration for mobilizing the personnel based on requirement.

2. Director General (Training), under the MSDE in a communication dated March 31, 2020  asked all Chief secretaries to utilise facilities of 33 field Institutes like National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) for the purpose of Quarantine Centres /Isolation Wards  and Temporary Medical Camps etc. Besides, States were also advised to utilise the facilities available in ITIs located in their States for the purpose.  There are totally 15,697 ITIs, with 3,055 in Government Sector and 12,642 in Private Sector. States have already started utilizing the following resources:

1.NSTI (W) Panipat has been identified for Isolation Wards (41 rooms and 16 toilets).

2.NSTI (W), Thiruvanathpuram with 19 rooms with 12 toilets and 6 bathrooms ready for handing over to District Administration.

3. NSTI, Calicut with 46 rooms with 16 toilets and 14 bathrooms ready for handing over to District Administration.

4. District Administration has identified NSTI, Ludhiana to accommodate 200 persons as shelter for migrant workers.

5. NSTI, Dehradun hostel is identified as Isolation ward by District Administration.

6. NSTI, Chennai hostel is identified as Isolation ward by District Administration

7. Other than ITIs and NSTIs, 38 Polytechnics and colleges in Odisha are being used as Isolation wards

8. Other NSTIs and ITIs are ready and can be requisitioned by District Authorities whenever they want.

3. In order to prevent the spread of Covid-19, instructions were issued by MSDE to Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) for preparation of  Masks under the directions of District Collector and District Health Authorities. As per available information as on date, 101 JSSs spread across 99 districts in 17 States have produced about 5 lakh masks so far for their respective District Administrations during this lockdown period. Director General (Training) MSDE sent a list of 64 ITIs and 18 NSTIs whose services could be utilised for preparation of masks to all Chief secretaries. 18 ITI and 2 NSTIs are already engaged in preparing masks.

4.  Other support services rendered by NSTIs are as under:

1. NSTI, Ludhiana has prepared an Aero Blaster Machine and handed it over to District Administration for sanitizing the city.

2. Dr Ambedkar Memorial ITI (run by Pune Cantonment Board, Pune, Maharashtra) prepared 6 numbers of “Corona Disinfection Chamber”.

3. Arun Pratima Pathak Memorial Pvt ITI, Jehanabad, Bihar made “Public tunnel sanitiser machine” which has been  installed at District Govt Hospital, Jehnabad, Bihar

4. Face Mask, Sanitizer distribution, Sanitising local villages, Awareness programs conducted.

5. ITI Kannur, Kerala handed over Institute vehicle to District Administration.

5. MSDE has contributed at least one day salary by all officers/staff to the PM CARES Fund. Further, National Skill Development Council, the Sector Skill Councils and Training Providers have been asked to contribute through CSR funds. The total contribution from salaries and CSR is Rs. 3.23 crores. In addition, 2022 ITIs have donated Rs. 1.47 crores to PMCARES Fund till date.

6. MSDE has issued an order asking all the establishments under designated and optional trade to pay full stipend to apprentices engaged with them during the period of lockdown. Besides, the Ministry would also reimburse stipend as per approved rate to establishments for the purpose.

    G   Ministry has also extended Enrolment date for training providers to enrol candidates up to 31May, 2020 for eight NE states for PMKVY 2016-20 Scheme. Further, the period for provision of training has been extended to August 31st from May 31st, 2020 for the targets given in 2019-20.

    H.  While ITIs have been closed down, following measures have been taken to continue the learning process:

(i) Continue learning through online resources such as Bharatskills portal, Quest App, NIMI virtual classrooms, etc.

(ii) Assignment given to the trainees by Instructors to be performed during the nationwide lock-down period.

(iii) Instructors in regular contact with the trainees through the WhatsApp group and guiding them for their assignments.

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YB/SK