UNDER the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), free skill development training is being provided to rural youth to help them move from unskilled labour to sustainable self-employment. With a large number of houses under construction under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), continuous mason training is being conducted to ensure the availability of skilled workers across gram panchayats. The training is being organised offline through the Rural Self Employment Training Institute (RSETI) under Project Unnati 2.0 of MGNREGA.

 

As per the scheme, members of registered rural households who have completed over 60 days of unskilled work are eligible for free skill training to enhance livelihood opportunities. In the current phase, 35 youths from Sonhat Janpad Panchayat have been selected for mason training, including participants from Gram Panchayat Sonhat. A total of 105 labourers are to be trained in Sonhat Janpad Panchayat under Project Unnati. So far, 70 youths have completed training and initiated self-employment activities, while the remaining batch is undergoing field-level practical training. Daily on-site training sessions are being held under Project Unnati 2.0. The present mason training programme began on February 3 and will conclude on February 14, after which the trainees will graduate as skilled masons.