Digital India Start-up Hub through the Software Technology Parks of India will set up India’s first Centre of Excellence in Online Gaming at Shillong in March this year.
This was informed by Union Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Rajeev Chandrasekhar here today. The union minister was on a two-day official visit to Meghalaya.
According to Chandrasekhar, the Centre of Excellence in Shillong is expected to catalyse start-ups and entrepreneurs from the entire North East region to build the next gen online gaming ecosystem.
“It is the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the next wave of start-ups and entrepreneurs must come from Shillong, Kohima and other parts of North East India,” Chandrasekhar said while interacting with journalists at a press conference here.
It is pertinent to mention that the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has recently circulated the draft amendments to the IT Rules 2021 in relation to online gaming for public consultation.
The union minister also highlighted the importance of digital skills post Covid, as the rate of digitalisation of products, services and devices continues to increase across the globe.
“Imparting digital skills to the youth in the North East region to enable them to grab opportunities of jobs and entrepreneurship in the fast-expanding Digital economy is an article of faith for the Narendra Modi government,” Chandrasekhar said.
He also announced another initiative of MeitY to set up a state-of-the-art facility under the National Institute of Electronics and IT (NIELIT) to provide training on cutting edge digital skills at Shillong. A ten-acre campus shall soon be ready for this purpose which shall cater to the skilling requirement of youth in the North East region.
The union minister also informed that the Central government is re-launching Skill India through PMKVY 4.0, which shall train around 50,000 youth in Meghalaya in future ready skills with industry backed job opportunities.
“Prime Minister Modi is building New India with re-imagined ambitions and aspirations for the young Indians. There are multiple opportunities available today and therefore skills become important to take advantage of these opportunities. Skills are the new passport to prosperity,” he added.
As far as other states in the North East region are concerned, the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship under PMKVY 4.0 has set a target to skill around 60,000 youth in Tripura and 35,000 in Nagaland across a spectrum of approved courses.
