India News | Ministries of Ayush, Rural Development Ink Pact for Skilling of Rural Youth, Empowering Women in Ayush Systems

New Delhi, Mar 16 (PTI) The ministries of Ayush and Rural Development inked a oact on Thursday for developing skilled personnel for Ayush healthcare system under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya-Grameen Kaushalya Yojana and generating employment for the rural youth and women.

As part of the MoU, both the ministries will collaborate in developing skilled personnel for Ayush healthcare and management sectors.

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The training imparted will be benchmarked to global standards to enable growth of skilled human resources in such sectors to serve both national and international demands, Union Ayush Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said.

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya-Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) is the flagship program of the Ministry of Rural Development.

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As a part of the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), DDU-GKY aims to transform rural poor youth into economically independent and globally relevant workforce.

The MoU was signed by Dr Manoj Nesari, Advisor, Ministry of Ayush and Karma Zimpa Bhutia, Joint Secretary, Rural Skills, Ministry of Rural Development in the presence of Sonowal and Union Rural Development and Panchayati Raj minister Giriraj Singh.

Training will be provided in collaboration with the Ayush ministry in courses --Panchakarma technician, Panchakarma assistant, Ayurvedic masseur, Kshara Karma technician, cupping therapy assistant on a pilot basis.

Singh praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Ayush Ministry for the growth seen in the Ayush sector, which scaled from 3 bn dollars in 2014 to 19 billion dollars in 2022.

"The MoU will be a landmark in empowering women's self-help groups and rural poor youth. Initial target is to train large number of women, which will be increased going forward. We will give priority to self-help groups," Singh said.

Sonowal said the collaboration between both the ministries will play an important role in enhancing the skill and service sector related to Ayurveda.

"Both the ministries will collaborate in boosting the spirit of self-employment. This will enable empowerment of rural youths and women. This will increase employment opportunities in rural areas," he said.

The training program undertaken under this MoU shall be funded as per DDU-GKY cost norms. NRLM and DDU-GKY will communicate to states and Union Territories for enlisting willing SHG members and rural poor youth about the courses and its training by institutes of Ministry of Ayush.

The Ayush ministry shall provide its institutes for the purpose of conducting courses, training and certification of the aspirants/candidates, a statement said.

The ministry will also depute nodal agencies across the country, which shall ensure mobilization, counselling, training, placement and tracking of candidates as per DDU-GKY norms in their respective designated states, it said.

Apart from this, both ministries will also work on formulating a system, wherein technical assistance would be provided in identifying permissible medicinal plantation activities, plant protection, inter-cropping in order to generate additional streams for income under relevant schemes of Ministry of Rural development, it said.

The ministry will also arrange training and orientation of plantation beneficiaries and various community level livelihood workers.

Through the MoU, it is expected to create synergy and convergence between both ministries, and enable fulfilment of the larger goal of community development and poverty alleviation in rural areas, the statement added.

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