Hardeep Singh Puri launches NIPUN scheme for construction workers

Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs and Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India, launched the National Initiative for Promoting Upskilling of Nirman Workers (NIPUN), an innovative scheme for skill training of construction workers.

The NIPUN project is an initiative of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) as part of its flagship scheme, the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM), to train more than 1 lakh construction workers via new skilling and upskilling programmes.

It will also provide them with work opportunities in other countries. The minister engaged with several construction workers and gave them safety helmets.

Puri told the media that the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) had a transformative influence on urban poor households by giving upskilling and job possibilities to urban people, particularly the young.

He said that by providing urban workers with self-employment and skilled wage job options, the spirit of entrepreneurship has been nurtured and supported. By enhancing their capacities and broadening their skill sets, this project will help Nirman personnel become more adept and skilled, as well as to adapt to future construction industry trends.

He stated that he has been highlighting the importance of improving skill sets in the construction sector to be used on a war footing, but that they have not been able to achieve what they should have.

Although the construction sector has invested in skill development, it has not extended horizontally. As a result, MoHUAs' initiative in this area is commendable and should be expanded to include a wider number of people.

The Minister said that talent and productivity are inextricably linked, as the Hon'ble Prime Minister recognised from the start. The Ministry also took on technological hurdles, which resulted in the rapid execution of six Light House Projects using technology and local materials to construct sustainable green buildings.

According to him, the NIPUN Project would allow construction employees to seek better employment prospects, raise their earnings, and even seek abroad postings, indicating the emergence of a new eco-system. He requested the commercial sector to take a more socially responsible approach.

Between 2004 and 2014, the MoHUA spent around 1.57 lakh crores of rupees on projects, an increase of roughly eight times in the past eight years.

The Minister revealed that the Central Vista would remain in place for the next 250 years. He said they are establishing a future labour force for the construction sector through appropriate skilling efforts like NIPUN, which will accelerate innovation and large-scale growth in the country.

DAY-NULM is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme that has been in place since 2014-15 to reduce poverty and vulnerability among urban poor households in the country by allowing them to access self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities, resulting in a significant and long-term improvement in their livelihoods.

Training through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) at construction sites, training through Fresh Skilling by Plumbing and Infrastructure SSC, and international placement through industries/builders/contractors are the three aspects of the project execution.

Approximately 80,000 construction workers will receive onsite skill training through industry associations under the RPL certification, co-branded with MoHUA. Meanwhile, about 14,000 candidates will receive fresh skilling in plumbing and infrastructure trades with promising placement potential through the Plumbing and Infrastructure Sector Skill Council (SSC).

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