The National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, North Eastern Regional Centre (Ministry of Rural Development, Govt .of India), Guwahati (NIRD&PR – NERC), Assam State has organized Soft skills training for officials of Department of Sericulture, Government of Assam sponsored by Department of Sericulture under World Bank Project Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project (APART).
The Main Objective of the training is to create a pool of employees who possess the soft skills expected by the workplace particularly in the department of sericulture. This Training module has been developed by NIRDPR NERC to identify the essential soft skills to the employees of Sericulture Department for effectively discharging their duties without much stress and to practically train them using various activities. Total 100 officials were target to train by NIRDPR NERC in three batches. The third batch of training was concluded on July 6th 2020 wherein altogether 95 officials from ten districts of Assam have undergone the training successfully.
The third batch of programmes was inaugurated by Prof. Dibyajyothi Mahanta, Dean, KK Handique Open University, Guwahati in presence of Dr. R. Murugesan, Director, NIRDPR – North Eastern Regional Centre, Guwahati, and Sri. Vidyasagar Kutum, Deputy Director, Department of Sericulture and Dr.T.Vijaya Kumar and Dr.V.Suresh Babu Course Directors on July 4, 2022 at 10.00 A.M.
Dr. T. Vijaya Kumar, Associate Professor and Program Coordinator, NIRDPR-NERC, Guwahati, while welcoming esteemed dignitaries the participants to the event. He laid focus on the significance of the Soft skills and mentioned that Soft skills are a set of essential competencies that can improve a person’s ability to work with others and even influence how they perform their job.
Dr. R. Murugesan, Director, NIRDPR – NERC, Guwahati while delivering opening remarks quoted that the Sericulture is a labour intensive production system and trigger the silk industry with the support of women farmers. Present Govt is focusing on skilling of youth entrepreneurs that should be utilized by the department of Sericulture. While setting the context for the programme, Dr. V. Suresh Babu, Associate Professor and Program Co-Coordinator, NIRDPR-NERC, Guwahati emphasized that Department of Sericulture Assam has achieved several mile stones in the glory of silk Industry. It is worth mentioning few initiatives of the department towards sustainable growth and generation of gainful employment through induction of modern technology in enhancing quality and quantity of silk from seed to creation of market linkages to export the silk products. Department has showcased several best practices in promotion of Eri and Muga silk production, such as 1) Integrated scheme for development of Eri Silk industry in Aspirational district – Baksa under North East Region Textile Promotion Scheme (NERTPS) which emphasis on value addition at every stage of production chain; 2) Integrated Eri Silk development project for sustainable livelihood to women of BTR through Tapioca Plantation under NERTPS, 3) SAMARTH Capacity building and skill development Training for Silk Sector, 4) Amended Forest Conservation Act to treat non-mulberry sericulture as forest based activity enabling farmers to undertake Vanya Silkworm rearing, 5) Catalytic Development Programme – Promoting convergence of sericulture programme with Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, etc. Department has felt necessary to build the soft skills of their officials to achieve the targets as per the National Silk policy 2020.
Shri Vidyasagar Kutum Dy. Director Department of Sericulture has appreciated the training feedback received from the participants of first and second batch. He further stated that this training programme on soft skills will facilitate the gross root level functionaries in mobilizing the farmers for strengthening the Farmers Interest Groups.
Prof. Dibyahjyothi Mahanta Dean of KKHandique state Open University, Guwahati while delivering the inaugural address emphasized the significance and technology and development and need for soft skills training to improve the performance of the employees. This also facilitate in improving the Human Development Index. Department of Sericulture should document the best practices in sericulture and should develop the material so that it can be incorporated into the school curriculum as emphasized in NEP 2020 for promotion of rural livelihoods.
NIRDPR has designed the training module on Soft Skills with 15 technical sessions emphasizing the hybrid methodology both offline and online interactive sessions. The module includes the sessions on Self-awareness, Empathy, Creative thinking , Critical thinking, Decision Making Skills, Inter-personal skills, Effective Communication Skills, problem solving, Stress and Emotional Management skills, Attitude reconstruction, significance of Time Management , Leadership and conflict management, Team building and Group dynamics along with assessment tools for personality development. The follow up of the training will be monitored continuously by the professionals of NIRDPR NERC through online interactions and field visits for a period of six months for equipping the skills. These trainings were coordinated by Mr. Alakesh Malla Baruah and Ms. Kuky Adhikary by the Department of Sericulture. Assam.
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