MATHEW HANCOCK MEETS K.SURESH FOR BILATERAL TALKS

A Bilateral Meeting between Shri K. Suresh Minister of State for Labour & Employment, Government of India and Mr. Mathew Hancock, United Kingdom Parliamentary Under Secretary for Skills today took place at Shram Shakti Bhawan, New Delhi. The two sides were represented by Senior Officials from respective Ministries.  Welcoming his U.K. (British) counterpart Mr. Mathew Hancock, Shri K.Suresh said there is plenty of scope to work together in the field of education and skills which can lead to sustainable long-term business partnerships. He recalled the two strategic partnerships signed between Prime Minster Dr. Manmohan Singh and the two U.K Prime Ministers, Mr. David Cameron in July 2010 and with Mr. Tony Blair in September 2004 in the field of education, skill development alongwith enhancing trade and commerce.   Shri K. Suresh also referred to a number of joint ventures currently operational between the two countries in the area of employment oriented vocational skills training and job placements with the M/o Rural development for Below Poverty Line population in the states of Punjab, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa and also to deliver skills based training, assessment and certification across 500 vocational training centres targeting one million learners over the next five years.   The minister said in the areas of apprenticeship training, training of large number of trainers in emerging disciplines such as construction, retail, hospitality, logistics, health care, etc., setting up of Sector Skills Councils and system of awarding bodies for quality aasurance the United Kingdom has considerable strength which can be leveraged to improve our own system of skill development.   The UK side while having a word of praise for the India’s initiatives in the area of training aspects assured their Indian counter that their will be continued efforts from their side to further strengthen ties between the two countries. The two sides also exchanged pleasantries after the meeting.