Labour and Employment Minister Bhupender Yadav today launched DigiSaksham, a digital skills programme to enhance the employability of youth by imparting them skills that are required in an increasingly technology-driven era.

This joint initiative with Microsoft India is an extension of the Government’s ongoing programs to support the youth from rural and semi-urban areas, the Labour and Employment Ministry said.

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Through the DigiSaksham initiative, free of cost training in digital skills including basic skills as well as advanced computing will be provided to more than three lakh youths in the first year.

Job seekers can access the training through the National Career Service (NCS) Portal (www.ncs.gov.in). The initiative gives priority to the job-seekers of semi-urban areas belonging to disadvantaged communities, including those who have lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking at the launch, the Labour Minister said that with fast-paced technology upgradations, constant skilling, reskilling and upskilling is a must.

The Minister said the job market today is highly competitive and employers are looking for employability skills along with subject matter expertise. DigiSaksham will address the digital skilling needs of more than 97 lakh active job-seekers registered on the NCS portal, he said.

The job seekers on the portal will be able to access training in areas like Javascript, Data Visualisation, Advance Excel, Power Bi, HTML, Programming languages, software development fundamentals, Introduction to coding, etc., the skills required in a digital economy.

Speaking at the event, President, Microsoft India said that the skills of the future will be different from today and bridging the digital skill equity gap requires involvement and close cooperation of government and private sector working with people that will further accelerate India’s transition to Digital Economy.

The Government has provided financial assistance to States for setting up model career centres and has already approved 207 Model Career Centres (including seven non-funded MCCs) and it has been decided to create another 200 more Career Centres across the States/UTs.