To provide skilled manpower in healthcare, nursing and paramedical, Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has launched the CM Maha Arogya Skills Development Programme that will prepare skilled and trained manpower for the health sector.

In the next three months 20,000 aspirants across 36 different courses in the field of paramedics will be trained under the Maha Arogya Skills Development Programme.

In a meeting held Thursday at the chief minister’s official residence, Varsha, along with deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, skills development, employment and entrepreneurship minister Nawab Malik, industry minister Subhash Desai, public health minister Rajesh Tope and medical education minister Amit Deshmukh, Thackeray said the government is committed to provide ample manpower to this sector. “The scheme launched today will provide skilled manpower to the health sector. This will be an important step towards the goal of a healthy, wholesome Maharashtra.

Chief secretary Sitaram Kunte, additional chief secretary of the health department Dr Pradeep Vyas, additional chief secretary to the chief minister Ashish Kumar Sing, principal secretary Vikas Kharge, Manisha Verma, principal secretary skill development department, skills development society, chief executive officer Dipendra Singh Kushwaha, secretary, medical education Saurabh Vijay, divisional commissioners, collectors , chief executive officers of Zilla Parishads, deans of various government medical colleges, district surgeons and  trainee candidates from the training centres also participated in the meet through video conferencing.

Thackeray said that recognising the need of the hour, “we are starting this training program. The department of health has been given maximum funding by requesting a supplement to the recent convention”.

“During the corona crisis we built a large number of facilities for the health sector. But it is useless if trained manpower is not available to run these facilities. Now with the creation of this manpower through the initiative started by the skill development department, employment opportunities will be available to the unemployed youth in the state. The programme which started today will provide skilled manpower to the health sector. This will be an important step towards the goal of a healthy and wholesome Maharashtra and the training programme will be given full support. This scheme will be implemented effectively in the state,” said Thackeray.

He added that that doctors and health workers are fighting against corona like soldiers. “In war, on one hand weapons are necessary and on the other hand the number of soldiers is also important.”

Deputy CM Ajit Pawar said that the cost of the scheme is expected to be around Rs 35-40 crore. At present a provision of Rs 20 crore has been made. Given the importance of the scheme the remaining funds will also be made available. “This program of the skill development department will also play an important role in eliminating unemployment,” he assured.

Nawab Malik said that at present the objective is to train 20,000 youths in the state through this scheme. “15,366 unemployed have been provided employment in June 2021 through various initiatives implemented by the department for job creation. The department has announced RPL (recognition of prior learning) programme to certify skilled candidates working in various fields. Out of this 1 lakh skilled candidates will be certified,” he said, adding that the department has taken important steps not only for training but also for providing employment to the youth.

Subhash Desai assured all possible assistance by the department of industry.

Public health minister Tope said corona had pushed up the unemployment index in 2020 but such training programs will provide employment opportunities to the youth. He said full cooperation will be extended through all district, sub-district and ayurvedic hospitals in the state and candidates will be given scholarship along with training. Tope also that that this training program will be important to provide good manpower from time to time for various campaigns like vaccination.   

Medical education minister Deshmukh said, “Today we are launching a training program that has not been done anywhere in the country against the backdrop of corona. It will be implemented by all the medical colleges and hospitals in the state.”

The training program will be implemented jointly by the Maharashtra State Skill Development Society of the Skill Development, Employment and Entrepreneurship Department to accelerate ‘Health for Al’ policy by providing trained manpower in the healthcare sector. The public health and medical education departments will be jointly conducting this programme.

As many as 348 medical colleges, government hospitals and some of the best private hospitals are notified as training centres and training will be provided through on a job training system. For this 500 training centres will be activated in all the districts to train 20,000 candidates. In the first phase 5,000 candidates will be trained. This training will be available to the candidates in hospitals having standard basic facilities at the local level. Those interested in taking advantage of this training scheme should register at the department portal, https://www.mahaswayam.gov.in.

Meanwhile, labour minister Hasan Mushrif, inaugurating the logo on the occasion of the centenary celebrations of Maharashtra Labour Commissionerate, said that the importance of workers has been underlined in the Constitution of the country. “Workers play an important role in the development of the state. It is the responsibility of all of us to protect the rights of workers in the organized and unorganized sector in the state. Priority will be given to safeguarding the interests of the workers through the labour department.”

Some children who were working as labourers and who have now been brought into mainstream education were felicitated on the occasion.   

The Labour Commissionerate was established in 1921. The principal secretary, labour department, Vinita Ved Singhal, labor commissioner Mahendra Kalyankar and Shirin Lokhande were present on the occasion.