Gov't to provide counselling and skill training to those living in child care homes

Counselling and skill training will be provided to children who are living in child care institutions that will help them find employment after leaving the facility, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said on Tuesday, October 11. This initiative aims to help children who move out of child care homes after turning 18.

Smriti Irani, at the national conference on skilling on non-traditional livelihoods for girls, interacted with a few girls pursuing their education in the "non-traditional livelihood" arena, a PTI report stated. In one such interaction with a girl, the Women and Child Development Minister, said, “In 7,000 child care institutions where children are 16-17 years old and will move out, we will arrange skill set training and counselling for them to help them get employment.”

A number of girls and women across the country shared their hardships in pursuing their non-traditional profession at this event in the presence of the Minister. Irani said that these women will be assigned with a bank official in each district who will facilitate loans for them under Mission Shakthi, stated the report. One of the women, Gulabshah Parveen, who is now 18 years old, from Patna, shared her experience on how she suffered domestic violence and abuse, while she was married to a man 15 years older than her and how she did not give up and continued to seek support from organisations working towards women empowerment.

Similarly, Pratibha Dudiya, now 18, from Jaipur, narrated how she wanted to prepare for NEET after securing 69% in Class XII but owing to financial constraints and the burden of five older unmarried sisters, her father was not keen on her studying further. Currently, with the assistance of this scheme, Pratibha is pursuing a two-year diploma in Dialysis Technology from SMS hospital in Jaipur.

A number of other women who benefitted from these child care homes and Mission Shakthi shared their experience in the presence of the Minister for which, she said, various courses are being translated into different Indian languages under the National Education Policy so that students don't miss out on education due to language barrier, stated the PTI report.