To commemorate the auspicious occasion of the Sikh New Year, under the visionary leadership of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi,  Union Minister of Ministry of Minority Affairs ,Smt. Smriti Irani today launched a comprehensive skill development, leadership and entrepreneurship promotion and education program for the Sikh community. This program has been approved in the larger spirit of “Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas”, under the Pradhan Mantri Virasat Ka Samvardhan (PM VIKAS) Scheme of the Ministry, through Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), which is a Statutory Body established for the welfare of the Sikh community.

This program will target 10,000 youth and women and seeks to provide modern skills training in employment-oriented job roles, promote Sikh artisans such as Sikligars and other groups who are practicing traditional arts & craft forms, foster women leadership and entrepreneurship, and education for school dropouts. The total expenditure on the program shall be approximately Rs 100 Crores.

This initiative of the Ministry shall assist the socio-economically disadvantaged groups within the community to make space for themselves in the national growth story and will also cater to beneficiaries from other socially disadvantaged communities thereby promoting communal and social harmony.

To formalize this transformative partnership, the Ministry of Minority Affairs will implement the program through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with societies/ educational institutions nominated/ registered under the DSGMC, which is already operating 4 colleges in Delhi University viz. Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College, Sri Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College, Mata Sundri College of Women and Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce, 12 branches of Guru Harkishan Public Schools, and 1 ITI. These institutions have a proven track record in the domain of imparting education and skill development for the welfare of Sikhs and other communities. This initiative of the Ministry of Minority Affairs seeks to target Sikh youth not only from Delhi but all over India by building and nurturing the capacities of these educational and skilling institutions thereby supporting and assisting the community in generation of employment and livelihood opportunities.

The Government also recognizes the need for preserving and promoting the rich cultural heritage and traditions of the Sikh community including the Gurmukhi Script. It has been decided to set up State-of-the-Art Gurmukhi Script learning centers in Khalsa colleges under the University of Delhi for providing basic knowledge of the language along with development of an IT platform for dissemination of Sikh learnings and heritage amongst students. The Centres will also work for preservation and propagation of Gurumukhi Script. The Ministry will support in providing required infrastructure and ancillary services including development of Studios / Smart Classrooms under the PM Jan Vikas Karyakram.

The approval of these initiatives for the Sikh community under the PM VIKAS and PMJVK scheme marks a significant milestone in the Government’s commitment towards empowering and uplifting the marginalized sections from amongst the Sikh community across the nation and envisions a tangible socio-economic transformation for their families.

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SS/AKS