- A Parliamentary panel has asked the government about the status of its assurance on creating jobs through solar power projects for unemployed youth
- The panel had suggested launching a scheme to set up solar power projects that will employ qualified unemployed or under-employed youth
- It demands from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to step up its efforts to start the scheme without further delay
The Indian government has been suggested by a Parliamentary panel to start a scheme which will lead to employment generation with the help of solar power. A report was tabled in the House of the People of the Indian Parliament. The idea is to hire qualified unemployed or under-employed youth for installing solar projects.
An agency report stated that the suggestion for this scheme was made already in March 2015, but no apparent progress has been made. The Parliamentary Committee called it a matter of ‘paramount importance’ that will empower educated unemployed youth as well as increase energy generating capacity of the nation.
The report called such a policy a game changer in the country’s energy scenario. Chaired by ruling party Bhartiya Janata Party’s (BJP) MP Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, the report stated, “The committee would like the Ministry (of New and Renewable Energy) to realize the importance of the scheme and step up their efforts and the level of coordination with all the stakeholders including states and finalize and launch the scheme without further delay so as to fulfill the assurance and derive maximum benefit from the scheme.”
India’s budding solar industry is coming up as one of the brightest spots of the Indian economy as the government is heavily supporting solar as it strives to reach its target of 100 GW installed solar power capacity by 2022.
The panel also asked the government to decide about the final commissioning date of three solar thermal power projects in Rajasthan, setting up a Center of Excellence for Hydrogen Energy and Fuel Cells, and finalize the National Wind Energy Mission.
