Asserting that skilling youth is the need of the time, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar today said that the engine of Meghalaya’s economy could be driven by tourism alone.
“If there is heaven it is in India, if there is heavenly spirit, it is in Meghalaya,” Dhankar said, noting that nature has bountifully gifted the State. He further urged the State to exploit this gift fully by having very talented skilled people in the shape of human resources.
Dhankhar was speaking after laying the foundation stone for the Meghalaya Skill and Innovation Hub in New Shillong. He also launched the ‘CM Business Catalyst: Student B-Plan Challenge’, which is supported by IIM-Shillong, and presided over the signing of an agreement between UNDP and the Meghalaya government for promoting entrepreneurship.
The Meghalaya Skill and Innovation Hub will be built on a 6.54-acre plot at a cost of Rs 77.5 crore. It will be developed as a facility for incubation, training, collaboration and industry partnerships.
“Skilling youth is the need of the time. Skill is neither discovered nor innovated, it is in fact the optimal exploitation of talent of a person in that specified field which gives the human resource a qualitative cutting-edge,” Dhankar said, underscoring that skilling is no longer a quality, it is a need.
Lauding Chief Minister Conrad Sangma for the initiatives, Dhankar said that the skill and innovation hub will go a long way in promoting entrepreneurship in the State.
He also exuded confidence that the human resources of the State will get a boost with the establishment of the innovation hub.
Dhankhar said the highest office of the country, the President of India, is held by a tribal woman, and Meghalaya’s first female Director General of Police Idashisha Nongrang is also a tribal. “It shows the changing profile of India’s growth trajectory,” he added.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said that Meghalaya’s young population is its strength.
He said his government was supporting entrepreneurship in a big way, and to address the manpower shortage, the skill and innovation hub was being set up.
“About 85 per cent of our population is below 45. The youth are our greatest strength and asset and we have initiated programmes that channelise this strength,” he said.
Governor C H Vijayashankar, cabinet minister Ampareen Lyngdoh, Chief Secretary Donald Phillips Wahlang, and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.
