Skill development should be continuous: Venkaiah Naidu

Chennai, Oct 10 (IANS) Skill development should be a continuous process and innovations must help make people's lives better, said Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday.

Naidu was addressing the gathering at the valedictory of the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of Educational Institutions run by Nachimuthu Industrial Association (NIA), in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu.

Pollachi is about 540km from here.

Calling N. Mahalingam, the founder of the institution, an ideal person who had contributed immensely for the uplift of the people living in rural Tamil Nadu, the Vice President said that such qualities should be emulated by young and the politicians of the present generation.

Naidu expressed concern over the rising urban-rural divide and stressed the need to create urban amenities such as educational institutions, uninterrupted electricity, access to drinking water and medical facilities at affordable cost for the benefit of people.

Addressing a young gathering of school children, Naidu urged them to develop the habit of upgrading their skill sets.

Quoting a report by a leading employment solutions company that claimed that more than 90 per cent of the engineering graduates of India are unemployable, the Vice President cautioned the young students to understand the seriousness of the situation.

He has asked teachers and educational institutions to take a good hard look at the curricula and the teaching method, so that the gap between a classroom and the workplace can be bridged.

Naidu said that the government of India is extremely sensitive to the dreams and aspirations of young India and is doing everything possible in its power to support, nurture and empower the youth of the country. It is up to the young people to make use of this opportunity, he added.