Dyma o ddanion y dynifatol, ac mae'r cyfrifiadau gwleithwyr gwneud eich taith ar ddysgu, cyflei Llyfrin D totallyr yn ei ddechrau. Mae'n ddau ddysgu i gyfrydd yma yn ddodd yn y cyfrifiadau. Felly mae'n ddiddor i'ch trofwyr yma i gair drosodol, byddai'r cyfrifiadau yn danntio i ddysgu i ddysgu i ddysgu i ddysgu i ddysgu. Poliwch arall wedi bringengog iawn wedi gweld yr ydym yn ymgyrchol â dweud. Mae Gwrth Rhyw Llywodraeth wedi cyfleiol iawn i gŵr ar gyfer hy contracts am gyfer hynny. Gallwn Pwysgol dddeptyneth sy'n gyda'r cyfrifiadau gyda'r cyfrifiadau ymgyrchol a nhw'n gyfrifiadau ymgyrchol. Fodd rydyn ni'n ysgawad yr ydw i gyfrifiadau sydd am y gyfrifiadau ymgyrchol, is the fastest way to clear all victims here in Scotland, and will he confirm to Parliament how he'll work with the UK Government to overturn these convictions as quickly as possible? Presiding Officer, can I first and foremost pay tribute to Alan Bates and all the other hundreds of campaigners as sub-postmasters, all of the sub-postmasters and sub-postmasters who campaign tirelessly over decades to ensure that they receive justice, justice they are still waiting for. Of course, it should not have taken a TV drama for action to have to be taken. Douglas Ross is right that there is a need for reflection for all of those involved. The post office is of course a wholly reserved institution, which is accountable to UK Government ministers. The difference, as Douglas Ross rightly points out here, is that prosecutions in Scotland have been taken forward by the independent crown and procurator fiscal service. I spoke to the law advocate just this morning and this list of general this morning, and she is willing to provide a briefing to any MSPs that have an interest in terms of the crown zone handling of these issues. To answer Douglas Ross's question directly, the justice secretary has written to her counterpart in the UK Government to say that we are willing to work with the UK Government in relation to legislation that it is bringing forward to overturn wrongful convictions. I think that the quickest way and fastest way to do that probably would be through the LCM process, but there are a number of complexities to have to navigate and to have to work through for some of the reasons that Douglas Ross has already highlighted. We will, of course, engage immediately and urgently, as we already have done with the UK Government, but what is absolutely certain, whether you are in Scotland or any other part of the United Kingdom and have been impacted and affected by this, is that sub-postmasters have waited far too long for justice. They should not have to wait a moment longer. I join the First Minister in congratulating Alan Bates and others, as I did in the House of Commons earlier this week. Victims and the public will rightly ask why it has taken so long for this deep injustice to be corrected, and multiple political parties and many individuals should have and could have acted sooner. Blame starts with the post office, but people are understandably looking at what others could have done. Scotland's Crown Office was made aware of concerns with the horizon system in 2013, more than 10 years ago. Dr Andrew Tickell, a senior law lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian University, said this week, and I quote, The revelation that the Crown Office knew of problems is huge. He continued, Did they stop prosecuting? Did it occur to them that any of their cases before 2013 might now be unsafe because of these uncertainties? He added that Scotland was just at the beginning of addressing the miscarriage of justice while England and Wales were much much further down the line. I am just quoting a law professor, so I am simply asking the First Minister— Let's hear Mr Ross. Does he agree that the process here in Scotland needs to be accelerated? I would say to Douglas Ross first and foremost that there is a public inquiry, of course, under way, but it has been well established that the inaccurate data presented by the Post Office is at the very heart of the scandal. The Post Office, of course, is accountable and has been accountable to the UK Government and ministers over many successive UK Governments, so that will undoubtedly be a matter of interrogation and questioning by the public inquiry. In terms of the Crown Office, and I reiterate the point that Lord Advocate is willing to meet with members of the Scottish Parliament to talk them through what the Crown has done, because those are independent functions of the Crown and Procurator Fiscal Service. My understanding is that, when the Crown Office was told in 2013 by Post Office slisters about the challenges around horizon evidence, it continued that dialogue with the Post Office, but immediately in September 2013 it provided guidance to every Scottish prosecutor at the earliest possible point in time to treat cases reported by the Post Office on their individual regard to their facts and circumstances and evidence that did not rely upon horizon. They then spent the next couple of years between 2013 and 2015 and continued dialogue with the Post Office to try to get further detail around the evidential basis. To conclude the position that Post Office 2015 with regard to assurances provided is that, in 2015, the Crown Prosecution Service issued instructions to all prosecutors not to proceed with any Post Office case in which a sufficency of evidence was dependent on evidence from the horizon system. No case is prosecuted effectively from 2015 where the evidence was dependent on evidence from the horizon system. In terms of where we are in the process of the Scottish Criminal Case review commission, what I am willing to do is work with the UK Government to look at a process that, effectively on mass, seeks to overturn any wrongful convictions. The actions of the Post Office were despicable and probably criminal, but the actions of the Crown Office here in Scotland should trouble us greatly. There was a sudden spike in cases involving people who were some of the most trusted in their communities, but the Crown Office proceeded anyway. That was until 2013, and suddenly they decided not to proceed with a case in the Gorbils. Now the First Minister has just articulated that it was September 2013 when the Crown Office first found out and sent out that information, but it wasn't. We know on 29 January 2013 that a prosecutor fiscal cited, and I quote, issues with horizon as the reason for not proceeding with a case in January 2013, not in September 2013. Stuart Monroe, convener of the Law Society of Scotland's criminal law committee, said that the prosecutor fiscal should have gone public. He says, and this is his quote, that the prosecutor fiscal has a legal duty to disclose relevant information of those accused of crimes, and that duty continues even after a trial is concluded. As soon as the prosecutor fiscal became aware of concerns about the reliability of horizon, that should have been disclosed. Does the First Minister agree that Scotland's Crown Office has serious questions to answer here? I want to say to Douglas Ross, in genuine sincerity, that the real questions of course are for the Post Office, and the information that the Post Office provided not just to the Crown, to Government ministers as well, and that is why a public inquiry is so important. Anybody who has questions to answer should co-operate with that public inquiry, but let's not forget that the Post Office is a wholly reserved institution directly accountable to UK Government ministers. There are legitimate questions to ask of the Crown. The Crown does operate independently of Government ministers and, of course, as it should operate independently of myself as the First Minister. There are legitimate questions that individuals and members of the chamber will have for the Crown Office. I repeat what Laura Advocate told me this morning. She is more than happy to provide a briefing to members of the Parliament that have an interest. I will end by reiterating the points that I made at the very beginning, which is that sub-postmasters and sub-postmisters have waited far too long for justice. It is incumbent on all of us to ensure that we not just get them access to that justice but access to compensation too. Douglas Ross The UK-wide inquiry that the First Minister has mentioned will look at all of those issues, and it is right that it continues to scrutinise what happened, but we must examine the unique circumstances in Scotland where the Crown Office was responsible for prosecutions of innocent people. If the Crown Office knew of specific problems more than a decade ago, that raises serious questions. We do not know what it did if anything with that information. The Horizon Post Office scandal has devastated lives. It is the most appalling miscarriage of justice. Good people were criminalised because of an IT failure that they had nothing to do with and a cover-up that lasted for years. It is right that no stone is left unturned in seeking answers. The Crown Office in Scotland must be transparent. Prosecutors were aware of issues with the flawed horizon system more than 10 years ago. We do not need meetings or briefings from the Lord Advocate. We need her here in Parliament to answer questions about this scandal. Does the First Minister agree that the Lord Advocate should urgently come to this Parliament to answer questions? I remind Douglas Ross, and this is a really important point, of course, that the Lord Advocate, when she discharges her functions as head of the prosecution service, does so independently of me. When I spoke to the Lord Advocate this morning, she was more than happy to consider whether it was a briefing, whether it was a ministerial statement, whatever was appropriate, she was willing to consider that. I am certain that the Lord Advocate is listening to those exchanges. Of course, it will be for her to determine, in her independent function as head of the prosecution service, on how she should answer any of those questions. Let me reiterate the point here that Scottish prosecutors were told in September 2013 to treat cases reported by the post office in regard to their facts, circumstances and evidence that did not rely upon horizons, so they should be reported under individual regard. Then, of course, no cases were prosecuted from 2015, where the sufficiency of evidence was dependent on the evidence from the horizon system. My understanding again from the conversations that I have had with the Lord Advocate is that the engagement with the post office between 2013 and 2015, the Crown Office was assured by the post office and the legal representatives that issues that arise with the horizon system in England did not impact on any live Scottish cases, so they continued to seek those assurances and then took the action that they did in both 2013 and 2015 as well. I simply end where I started time and time again. Sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses were telling the UK Government and ministers in the UK Government that the body that they are wholly responsible for, the post office, was lying. They were simply not telling the truth about the horizon system. Time and time again, they were not listening to it. They have waited far too long for justice, they waited far too long for compensation. This Government will work with the UK Government to ensure that they get access to not just justice but to the compensation that they so rightly deserve. The lives of potentially hundreds of Scottish sub-postmasters and their families were ruined by post office and Fujitsu. People lost their livelihoods and in some cases even lost their lives. They have described being ostracised in their communities, their families shunned and their children targeted. It is a national disgrace. I welcome that those convictions will be overturned but there is more to this scandal. Unlike in England and Wales, where the post office itself brought those prosecutions, in Scotland they were carried out by the Crown Office and the Procurator for School. As we have heard, we know that ministers in the Crown were made aware of concerns around unsafe prosecutions in 2013. Can I ask the First Minister what conversations he, his justice secretary and the Lord Advocate have had about the role of Scottish institutions in prosecuting those cases and how that was allowed to happen for so long? First Minister, let me be clear whether I was justice secretary at the time or indeed in my current role as First Minister, it would be wholly inappropriate for any Government minister to demand to see the evidential basis for a case that the Crown was prosecuting. I know that Anasawa is not asking that, but I am making the point here that the issue here is the evidence that was provided by the post office. It would be wrong for me to, in any ministerial position, to suggest that I need to see that evidential basis in any individual prosecution. Anasawa asked what conversations I have had with the Lord Advocate. I had a conversation again this morning with the Lord Advocate and the Lord Advocate stressed a number of points. She is happy to provide a timeline in terms of how the Crown has responded. She is very confident about the Crown's response. They were told in 2013 about possible problems. They issued guidance to their individual prosecutors in 2013. They stopped prosecuting cases in 2015, after a period of continual conversation with the post office, and stopped prosecuting cases in 2015, when the sufficiency of evidence was dependent on the horizon system. The Lord Advocate is open to briefing members of the Scottish Parliament and, as we have already heard, whether that is through briefing or ministerial statement, I am sure that the Lord Advocate will reflect. Anasawa is absolutely right at the heart of that. Hundreds of people across the United Kingdom, whose lives and reputations have been tarnished and ruined, it is incumbent that this Government works with any other Government, including the UK Government, across the United Kingdom to ensure that justice is forthcoming and that access to compensation is not impeded. Anasawa. There are big questions for the Crown Office and the Procurate of Fiscal. I think that it would be right if the Lord Advocate came to this Parliament to answer those questions from members. But this goes beyond convictions. Disturbing accounts from the public inquiry have revealed that post office employees were going door-to-door in Scotland to threaten and extort money from sub-postmasters. In behaviour reminiscent of the mob, those stories show that the post office behaved like a private police force and showed little regard for the law in Scotland. Sub-postmasters were pressured into accepting accusations of false accounting and forced to handle over thousands of pounds that day or face imprisonment. First Minister, if any other organisation had behaved like that in Scotland, we would expect to see criminal investigations into their conduct. Does the First Minister agree that the potentially criminal behaviour by post office officials in Scotland should be properly investigated so that scandal does not go unpunished? I should have perhaps said at the beginning of my response to Douglas Ross. I absolutely empathise in the strongest way possible with the harrowing tales that we have heard from sub-postmasters and sub-postmasters right up and down the country. My own family are sub-postmasters. My late grandfather was a sub-postmaster and my step-grand continues to be so, although not affected by that particular scandal. I would say to Anasawa that the big difference, of course, is that the post office does not have the ability to bring private prosecutions here in Scotland. That is very different, of course, to the situation in England and Wales. The behaviours of the post office should absolutely rightly be interrogated. That is why there is a public inquiry. Of course, if there are any behaviours that are possibly criminal in Scotland, again it is not for me to investigate those that would rightly be for the independent Crown and Procurator Fiscal Service to do so. I have every confidence that the Crown will look into allegations or any allegations that are made to them about any potential criminal behaviour. Too often in this country, when there is an injustice, the first instinct of institutions and government is to protect themselves. Whether it is the sub-postmasters taking on the post office, the Hillsborough scandal, the Sea Diff scandal at the Vale of Leven, or victims at the Queen Elizabeth university hospital. It should not take victims disclosing the most harming moments of their lives to shame both of Scotland's Government into action, but it happens too often. Government is meant to be on the people's side, but tragically when victims come looking for justice, all they get are more barriers put in their way, and the silence, denial and cover-up compounds the injustice and amplifies their pain. Ministers, be they Scottish or UK, always say that we must learn the lessons and it cannot be allowed to happen again, but it does. Does the First Minister agree that the priority for government should be truth and justice for victims rather than protecting institutions or protecting individual reputations? I do agree that that is of paramount importance. I do remind Anasawa, of course, the Labour Party, where in the UK government for a number of years, while sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses were telling UK government postal ministers, Labour ministers, that the post office was presenting inaccurate data. I think that it is important for all UK-based parties in particular to reflect on their relationship with the post office and whether they were listening or not. In terms of the Government's approach, I think that we can demonstrate time and time and time again where issues have been brought to this Government. We have not only engaged often in really difficult conversations, engaged with individuals who bring forward harrowing stories and tales, but where necessary, of course, we will always investigate whether that is through the independence of commissioners that we have here, whether it is the patient safety commissioner, whom I am pleased that bill has passed, whether it is through the duty of candor in relation to the NHS, whether it is through public inquiries that we instruct. This Government's approach has been and will always be to ensure that we seek the truth and that we always ensure that we do right by the people of Scotland. When it comes to this particular issue, when it comes to sub-postmasters here in Scotland, we will work with whoever we need to, including the UK government, to ensure that those individuals not only get access to justice, but compensation, which has been denied to them, for far too long. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet. I am grateful for that reply. Netazines are a kind of synthetic opioid, 50 times stronger than heroin. They are often delivered in a single pill or disguised as other substances entirely. The synthetic opioid epidemic across North America has already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, and public health officials and charities are worried that those drugs are coming to Scotland. We know that Netazines have been linked to the deaths of nine Scots this summer—or since the summer. The front line in our response to those new substances is information, detection and treatment. We still have the worst drug deaths in all of Europe. Can I ask the First Minister why his budget delivers a real-terms cut to drug services, just as this new threat is emerging? Can I say that we are committed and have not reduced the money in relation to the national mission for dealing with drugs deaths? Alex Cole-Hamilton is absolutely right about the danger of Netazines. In fact, the drugs minister and I spoke about this threat recently. I also spoke when I was in New York last year to the health commissioner in New York about the real dangers of synthetic opioids, which Alex Cole-Hamilton is right to say that they are a real epidemic. In America, we are not complacent about the challenges that we face here. We will continue to invest in the national mission in tackling drugs deaths when it comes to the specific action that we are taking around Netazines. There are a number of actions that we are taking in relation to them and in relation to synthetic opioids. I am more than happy for the drugs minister to meet Alex Cole-Hamilton to give him more detail about the actions and the range of actions that we are taking in this regard. Question 4, Stuart McMillan. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is regarding any implications for its net zero ambitions of the UK Government's offshore petroleum licensing bill, which seeks changes to the licensing regime, including how regularly licensing rounds are held. Decisions on offshore oil and gas licensing remains reserved to the UK Government. The offshore petroleum bill, along with other recent announcements, demonstrates that it is not serious about the climate crisis. Instead of licensing ever more fossil fuel extraction, which the bill would absolutely see happen on an annual basis, the UK Government should be supporting a fair and just energy transition in line with its climate commitments. We have repeatedly called for a rigorous climate compatibility test to be applied to all new oil and gas developments. However, the checkpoint introduced by the UK Government before the latest licensing round is neither robust nor is it frankly transparent. Here in Scotland we remain absolutely committed to a just transition to net zero by 2045. I thank the First Minister for that reply. The former UK energy minister, Chris Skidmore, has recently resigned as an MP and protested over the bill. The COP26 president Sir Alec Sharma MP has stated that the bill, and I quote, reinforces that enforced perception about the UK rowing back on climate action. Even those within the Tory party recognise that the UK Government is not serious about climate change. Does the First Minister agree with me that the just transition to help to retrain and reskill the oil and gas workforce is vital to help to deliver the energy that we use? That any part of the forums that the next UK Government needs to be serious about climate change and are pushed towards net zero and that only as an independent nation the people of Scotland will get the energy policy fit for all the future and also the emergency that we are facing? I do agree with that. The fact that the Prime Minister spent more time on his private jet than he did at COP28 tells him his level of commitment to tackling the climate crisis. Of course, 2023 was and has been confirmed as the hottest year on record, so those who refuse in the face of all that evidence to take the necessary action are completely abdicating their responsibility not just to current generations but to the future generations and indeed to our planet as well. I do agree that responding to the climate emergency is an absolute imperative. There should be a political consensus. I am looking forward to meeting the party leaders later in the coming weeks to discuss how we can collectively work to tackle the climate crisis. What would really help is that every time the Scottish Government proposes action to tackle the climate crisis, if the opposition did not oppose it simply for its opposition's sake? Mark Ruskell This latest episode in Tory climate denial threatens to deepen our alliance on climate wrecking fossil fuels exactly when we should be doubling down on cheap and clean renewables. In Scotland we are making great progress, record investment in renewables as a result of planning reforms and tens of thousands of quality new green jobs. The draft energy strategy and just transition plan reflects both the scientific evidence of climate change and that economic opportunity by clearly stating a presumption against new oil and gas fields. Can I ask the First Minister what impact that new bill will have on that exact commitment? As the Scottish Government, we absolutely value the exceptional role that the oil and gas industry has played over many decades here in Scotland and, of course, the exceptional efforts of the incredibly hard-working workforce in the oil and gas industry, which are vital key components of Scotland's economic success. However, it is the case that, regardless of what anybody says in the chamber, the facts are the facts. Of course, the North Sea is a declining basin. Therefore, it is not just in the planet's interests that it is to have that just transition to net zero. It is in our economic interests, given the decline of the North Sea basin and the exceptional potential of our renewable sources, in order to ensure that that potential is unleashed. We are in the process of finalising that energy strategy and just transition plan, in light of the consultation responses that are received. Our focus will be on reducing emissions and on that just transition away from fossil fuels and towards unleashing the potential of our net zero green technologies. As Rosebank comes on stream and the 40s, which accounts for around 40 per cent of oil, continues to flow, refining must be carried out at Grangemouth. Will the First Minister commit today to bringing together Unite the Union, Petro Ineos and the UK Government to create the required rescue package to increase the profitability of the plant and to secure its long-term future as a Scottish refinery? The future industries board, which is looking at this very issue, is meeting, I believe, in the coming weeks. Of course, Neil Gray and I have had conversations with the owners of the Grangemouth refinery, and there will be continued discussions that are on-going. All of us want to see a viable future for Grangemouth. We also want to make sure that it is a sustainable future and do our very best to ensure that there are not job losses at Grangemouth. We will do what we can. That future industry board will meet it. I will ensure that Neil Gray writes to Ash Ragan with the full details of the actions that we are taking, which include not just engaging with the owners of Grangemouth but also engaging with trade union colleagues. To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reports that the promise is not on track to deliver effective change for Scotland's care-experienced people. Keeping the promise is an absolute top priority for this Government. When I met Fiona Duncan, the independent strategic adviser for the promise late last year, she confirmed her view that the promise can be met by 2030. I am determined that we will do exactly that. Over the past year, we have made substantial progress on a whole range of aspects of the promise, including the Scottish-recommended allowance for fostering kinship carers and investing £6 million in the bairns whose pathfinders. There is, of course, more to do of that. There is simply no doubt, but let me assure the chamber that this Government will do everything in our power to keep and also deliver the promise to Scotland's care-experienced people. Ross McCull? I thank the First Minister for that response. Four years on, and the lives of care-experienced people in Scotland are no better. He will be aware of the comments of Megan Moffitt of Who Cares Scotland, who said that, despite laudable ambitions, there is no clear detail on how the promise should happen, who should do it, when, by, and how much it will cost. The outgoing Children's Commissioner stated that Nicola Sturgeon absolutely fails Scotland's young people and with that self-same MSP admitting recently that there is an implementation gap. When will the SNP Green Government stop tinkering around the edges of meaningful change, empower and adequately fund our councils to do the job, get the promise back on track and stop failing most vulnerable people in our society? I have to say that it takes some level of brass neck for a Conservative member to stand here and demand more money for local services and local government. When they are continually cutting our budget, time and time and time again, a real term is cut to our budget over a number of years. I also disagree fundamentally with the suggestion from Ross McCull that things have not improved. When I look at the latest published data showing that there was almost 2,000 fewer looked after children in July 2022 than at the start of the promise, which was in July 2020, that is a 12.9 per cent reduction, but those are not just numbers. That is almost 2,000 fewer children, young people and families that have been impacted positively and affected positively, too. I am not suggesting to Ross McCull anybody else that there are not issues in relation to the implementation of the promise. In my recent meeting with Fiona Duncan, who I think is widely respected across the chamber, there is a determination and understanding that we can absolutely keep the promise. That is why we will work with Fiona Duncan and all the stakeholders in relation to keeping the promise on the implementation plan 2040-30. I can promise those individuals, those young people and indeed care experienced people whatever stage of life they are at, that this Government is absolutely resolute, unwavering in its commitment to keeping and delivering the promise to them. Does the First Minister agree that, to keep the promise, the significant progress that has already been made needs to continue and now intensify? In particular, does he agree that the whole family wellbeing fund is absolutely essential to provide the funding to transform services so that families are better supported and fewer young people then need to enter care in the first place? To that end, will he give a commitment that the fund will be delivered in full and that it will be fully invested to improve the lives of the young people present and future to whom that promise has been made? Absolutely. First and foremost, can I recognise that there frankly would not be a promise if it wasn't for the efforts of the former First Minister of Nicola Sturgeon? Nicola Sturgeon would be the first to say that there would be no promise if it wasn't for the efforts of young care experienced people, so I want to pay tribute to them for the impact that they have had on all of us, not just on Government, but I suspect every single member of the Scottish Parliament who has engaged with care experience. Young people and care experience people more generally will have been impacted. I have had the pleasure of engaging with a number of care experience people in my time as First Minister. I am before and most recently hosting them in Bute House for a Christmas party, which was not just great fun but gave me the opportunity to hear from them directly on the improvements that we had to make. To answer Nicola Sturgeon's question, directly, the whole family wellbeing fund is a central component for us in terms of keeping the promise. Despite the very challenging autumn statement, despite the continued cuts over a number of years to our budget, we have prioritised £50 million for the fund in the £24.25 budget, as I say, even in the face of significant financial constraints. Reflecting our priority and the importance that we attach to keeping the promise. First Minister, what urgent steps have been taken to address reports of our mental health crisis with an increase in calls to the NHS 24 mental health hub? There is no question that, for many people, recent times have been extremely challenging, exacerbated of course by Covid and the cost of living crisis. We are committed to supporting people's mental health and wellbeing, just as we are to support their physical health too. A recently published mental health and wellbeing strategy delivery plan and workforce action plan recognises that an effective mental health system must address all levels of need. It sets out what people have a right to expect from high-quality mental health services and the actions that we are taking to achieve those aims. Those actions will continue to evolve over time and I am always open to constructive dialogue with Opposition parties on where they think we can go further. The member references NHS 24 call volumes. It is good that more people feel able to come forward and ask for help for their mental health, and our substantially increased investment in NHS 24 is helping to ensure that more calls can be responded to. Data from NHS 24 reveals that calls regarding alcohol problems have risen by over 602 years and calls regarding psychotic symptoms have more than doubled since 2021. That is not simply people presenting for the first time, First Minister. That is people who are not being seen urgently in the way that they should. Last year, astonishingly, more than 7,000 children and young people were turned away from CAMHS. That is an average of 26 children a day. Primary and community care services are under growing pressure, yet ministers have failed to start recruiting the promised additional 1,000 mental health roles, while cutting the budget for the coming year by £5 million after inflation. Will the First Minister accept that his mental health strategy will fail unless it is properly resourced? When it comes to mental health funding, the Government has a record that we are proud of standing on. Again, that is not the face of the most difficult set of finances and constrictions that we have faced in the history of devolution. The autumn statement from the UK Government was the worst-case scenario for Scotland, but, despite that, difficult decisions have to be made across Government in terms of budget. However, that has not stopped our focus on key priorities. Since 2020-21, the mental health directorate programme budget has more than doubled. When it comes to staffing, which is mentioned by Paul Sweeney, following our record-breaking investment in CAMHS, which I have just mentioned, CAMHS staffing has more than doubled under this Government. It has gone up by more than 126 per cent since 2007. Those are difficult decisions that have been made right across the United Kingdom, because of the cuts coming from the UK Government. In fact, if I look at Labour-run Wales and its 24-25 budget, here is a quote from its budget. We can no longer in this funding by 15 per cent in 24-25, as was originally planned, have reduced the existing mental health budget by a further six million. My point is, of course, that we will do everything that we possibly can to increase the investment in mental health, but we cannot do that in the face of continued cuts from the UK Government. Research indicates that 10 per cent of children and young people have a clinically diagnosable mental health issue. That is around three children in every class. Neuridiverse children and young people are struggling in particular right now, with Scotland currently facing a severe shortage of ADHD medication, which affects approximately 26,000 people. Can I ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government can do to help to address that issue? Karen Adam, forgive me, raises a very important issue, which I know impacts a number of people across the country. I recognise the impact of the global medicine shortages on people living with ADHD and the impact on their families. The pricing and supply of medicines is a reserve matter for the UK Government, but we regularly engage with them and have engaged with them specifically on that particular issue. The shortages are caused by a combination of manufacturing issues and a global increase in demand. The Brexit red tape certainly has not helped. It is anticipated that most of the shortages of ADHD medicine will be resolved this month. NHS Scotland has robust systems in place to manage medicine shortages when they do arise, and anyone who is affected should speak to the clinical team in the first instance. We move to general and constituency supplementaries, and I call Tess White. Matrix is one of Breakin's biggest employers, but most of its employees right now await news of their jobs as the manufacturing firm considers its future. Storm Babette has been blamed when the factory was under four feet of water with extensive machine damage. Can the First Minister tell us what his Government has done to protect and preserve the highly skilled jobs in Breakin, and when the SNP will finally fulfil its promise to support the town at its greatest time of need? Of course, we visited Breakin after Storm Babette, and we have been able to dispense with thousands of pounds in relation to business recovery grants, and I can get the exact detail to Tess White in that regard. We are stepping up to help the people and the businesses of Breakin through funding that we have made available. We were quick not just to visit, but to make sure that we acted. In terms of Matrix international more generally and more broadly, I know that the cabinet secretary is engaged and I know that Scottish Enterprise continued to be engaged as very disappointed to hear reports of potential job losses at Matrix international. Of course, the Scottish Government will provide support through our PACE initiative. PACE has already met the company to offer support to the workforce, but Neil Gray will continue to remain engaged, as will Scottish Enterprise, and I am happy to write to Tess White with further details of that engagement. During the stage 1 debate on my disabled person's transition to adulthood bill, the Government argued that a change in the law was not needed because good practice on ASN was spreading. New data from the Government's school census shows that the number of children with ASN getting legal support via a co-ordinated support plan has reached its lowest point ever. Despite promised action from this Government, including as fireback is 2016, things are getting worse, not better and a generation are failed. I ask the First Minister, with countless promises from his Government that things will get better, why is support for young people with additional support needs getting so much worse? We have invested significantly in ASN support for our young people. I would say to Pam Duncan-Glancy that there are a number of reasons why the Government did not feel that they could support her bill, but we are always open to work with Pam Duncan-Glancy with any member right across his chamber to see what further work we can do, what more we can do to support our young people when it comes to the ASN support that they require. However, of course, what we will continue to do is not just invest in that. We will continue to engage with our local authorities, who, of course, in budget 2425, as presented by the Deputy First Minister, are getting a significant increase in their budget, which will hopefully help in this regard. Like many others, I have been contacted by constituents on the Scottish Government's position on the Excell bully dog breed. In light of the new controls on the breed in England and Wales, which have come into effect in 1 February, can the First Minister outline when his Government will reach a decision on their own on this issue? First Minister? First and foremost, it is probably worth saying that the description of what is happening in England and Wales is not a ban on excell bully dogs. Of course, owners can still keep an excell bully dog. They have to make sure that it is registered on the exemption index. They have to fulfil the other criteria of the legislation. Of course, when this was first announced without any consultation with the Scottish Government, or indeed, as far as I can see, any consultation with animal welfare stakeholders, we committed in the Scottish Government to engage with animal welfare stakeholders and to continue to engage with the UK Government. What has become clear—I am afraid in the past few weeks—is that we have seen a flow of excell bully dogs coming to Scotland and a number of people transferring to Scotland to bring excell bully dogs here to the country. As such, we will give further details to members of the Scottish Parliament through a ministerial statement if the parliamentary bureau agrees next week that we will, in essence, replicate the legislation that is in England and Wales here in Scotland. Ultimately, although we have a very good system of dog control notice schemes and we take the approach of deed not breed, we have to respond to the situation as it currently stands. Therefore, we will do what we need to do to ensure public safety. Further detail will be given by the appropriate minister next week, subject to parliamentary bureau's agreement. New figures show that 11 people have died and 69 have been seriously injured in accidents on the A96 in the last four years. The Scottish Government promised in 2011 that it would be duelled by 2030, but that is now subject to a review at a cost of £5 million and whose publication has been delayed by over a year. First Minister, when will this review finally be published and will this Government ever do this killer road? First Minister, what does not help when it comes to a capital infrastructure project is a 10 per cent cut to our capital budget over the next five years, so what Conservative members cannot do is come to this chamber, demand we continue to invest in roads but simultaneously cut our budget time and time and time again. So, as confirmed to our programme for government, we remain absolutely committed to improving the A96, including during Inverness to Nairn and the Nairn bypass, which already has ministerial consent following that public local inquiry. The Minister for Transport is due, I believe, to meet members who have an interest in the A96 on 25 January. We will provide a more detailed update on the scheme, along with details about how the review is being undertaken on the wider A96 corridor. However, in the interim, I will absolutely assure all members that preparation work continues at pace on the Inverness to Nairn, including the Nairn bypass section. I can advise that to expect orders for the scheme that will be made in the first quarter of 2024, with a view to completing the necessary statutory process. The Accounts Commission today is discussing its reports into Renfrewshire Council's handling of the Dargavo schools debacle, estimated to cost Renfrewshire's children and taxpayers up to £170 million. The commission has stated that the council faces a challenge to rebuild trust and confidence. It has also stated that the community will be dealing with the consequences of this era for some time. Given that, how can the First Minister have confidence in Renfrewshire Council when so many local parents do not? Given funding for a new thorn primary school has been rejected by the Government, what support will the Government provide to Renfrewshire's children to stop them paying the price of their council's incompetence? First and foremost, Neil Bibby is right that he has been right over a number of months to raise the serious concerns that parents have in Renfrewshire over this particular situation. The council will have to reflect very hard in relation to how it rebuilds trust with parents in this regard. From the Scottish Government's perspective, we have a good record of investing in schools, new schools and refurbishments right across local authorities, including in Renfrewshire, as well as what the Scottish Government can do through the budget announced by the Deputy First Minister, the budget 2425. We are giving a significant uplift to local government. We will continue to engage with local government and with Renfrewshire Council on the issue, but it is the responsibility of the local authority and of Renfrewshire Council to ensure that it rebuilds trust with the parents and the families that are affected. The next item of business is a member's business debate in the name of Rhoda Grant, and there will now be a short suspension to allow those who are leaving the chamber and public gallery to do so before the debate begins.


Good evening. Am I audible? Yes, yes. Okay, yes. A very good evening to all the participants, the senior faculty members of the university, my dear colleagues, research scholars and learners present in today's webinar. On behalf of KK Hendricks Therapy University, I welcome you all to this webinar on Skill, Entrepreneurship Development and Employability Challenges and Opportunities. So, basically we three, Dr. Govinda Dakasar, Dr. Saanika Sanapati and myself with three will be throwing some lights on the topic and we will be going in this way. I will be speaking on skill and employability. Dr. Saanika Sanapati will be speaking on entrepreneurship and employability and finally, Dr. Govinda Daka will be speaking on challenges and opportunities of skill and entrepreneurship. Can I share my screen? Yes, go ahead. Just a minute. Is it visible? Yes. So, let us come to the topic of today's webinar. So, skill and entrepreneurship these two factors or these two area is going to play a very crucial role in the development process of low-income countries or the developing countries as because the manufacturing and service industry is going to lead the lead those economy. If you look at the structure or the participation of workforce in the different sectors of the economy we will observe that slowly the pattern is changing earlier more workforce were engaged in the agricultural sector now from 2009 to 2019 within this span of 10 year the participant of workers in the agricultural sector has dropped from 52.5 percent to 42.6 percent on the other side if you look at the participation in industry and service sector these two area the participation of workforce is increasing so in this situation we must be ready with the necessary skill workforce to meet the changing demand and to supply adequate amount of skilled manpower. So, there are two critical elements that could potentially threaten the economic growth for manufacturers in the coming years these two factors are lack of skilled manufacturers and the rising pressure of manufacturers to be innovative so our discussion is related with the first one we are not going to discuss the problem faced by manufacturers while they need to be innovative if India needs to grow or if we want to make improvement in our economic indicators like employment or GDP or per capita income then we must go for rapid capacity increase in the manufacturing and service sector and when we will be going for increasing capacity of this sector we have we have to encourage or we have to welcome the industries whether it is domestic industry or the international corporations so before investing these companies are always look for certain conditions or they will invest their money or they will start their operations only in those countries where the condition is conducive for them there are certain preconditions for that like availability of infrastructure then one the next is availability of skill manpower so these are preconditions so they will invest their money or those corporate houses will start operation in a country where they will find all their opportunities when you talk about India if you talk about this is the scenario of India that I am sharing if you look at the scenario of skill manpower availability of skill manpower in India the scenario is this so according to HDR2020 barely one in five Indians in the lever force is skilled in India we rank 129 among 162 countries which is again if we talk about the employability of the youth in India so it stood at 45.9% so only 45.9% of the total youth are employable and decreasing it has decreased from 46.2% in 1990 to 45.9% in 2020 according to India's skill report so this indicate a skill gap in Indian education system if we talk about other countries like Japan so Japan has their they have skilled their 99.9% workforce skilled Japan is at the top in the list like Belarus, US, Russia all these countries have over 96% of their lever force classified as skilled and if we talk about our neighboring country like Nepal, Sri Lanka or Myanmar, Bangladesh Sri Lanka has nearly 40% of their lever force is skilled while in Myanmar it is 28.1% and in Bangladesh it is 25.8% so if we analyze or if we just look then we will observe that there is a direct relationship between economic development and availability of skilled human resources so the countries where human resources are skilled they are tends to be developed and the economy where skilled human resource is not available they are tend to be less developed so this is just two quotations so what to create a mindset for vocational training in India and education degrees still preferred to vocational training we have to give more incentive to tilt the balance in favor of vocational courses according to Gayatri Vasudevan again in our context skilling is perceived as the last resort mean for those who have not been able to progress in the formal academic system this mental block has only increased the gap between what the industry requires and what is currently available so the government of India has initiated many programs for improving skills in Indian youth but the scale of we what need to be achieved is truly staggering the national education policy 2020 also talked about important skill UGC has also initiated some measures to include skill component in the curriculum government of India launched national vocational education qualification framework that is BQF which is assimilated later on in the NSQF that is national skill qualifications framework and UGC implemented the scheme of community college for importing skill among the Indian youth but the measures taken for skilling India seems to be insufficient we can learn some lessons from our neighbor that is China so how China has or how China is supplying if not adequate but to a great extent sufficient number of skilled manpower to their industries so how do they do it so what China did China has created a system called vocational education and training system called TVET which helped China to successfully transform into world manufacturing hub after it produced millions of skilled workers so how this TVET works so this TVET ensures vocational training at secondary level that is in China it is from class 7 to class 9 then in higher educational institution adult training adult training and retraining training of vocational trainers financing and active participation of the local industries so they encourage all this under TVET system the curriculum is designed keeping in mind the needs of the local industries so they frame the curriculum in such a way so that the product can be absorbed by the local industries and local industries give input to the vocational training institute how they will frame their curriculum and government bears more than 70% cost of that vocational education and also they they give incentives to the students coming from rural areas for pursuing those vocational training so if we talk in the context of India or in the context of Assam we can see that we are also providing scholarship or assistance to the students but with no directions we are giving it in a wholesale manner so while doing so the society is not getting the proper direction I mean to say when subsidies available in all the sectors so people are choosing anyone or the easy one or whatever comes to come in front of them but when we provide subsidy particular to one sector to encourage that particular sector for example if we subsidize the vocational education or engineering education or computer education instead of subsidizing the general education what will happen the economically disadvantageous students will go for those courses which will be subsidized or which are subsidized again which will guarantee or ensure a job today so we also have a system in place and government has government is initiating many programs for skilling India but even then somewhere there is a gap so in order to reduce that gap between demand and supply of skill level we have to again see what lacks is there in our policies otherwise things are in place so if we look at future in the next few decades which will dominate so it is we all know technology and the smart economy the smart country they are already prepared themselves they have geared themselves and they will grab the opportunity as there will be huge demand for technology so if we talk about any industry nowadays any industry you talk about travel you talk about manufacturing you talk about production units you talk about hospital management every company you talk about retail trade every company is using technology extensively and this pandemic has given another boost to the use of technology so this is going to be or there is going to be huge demand for technopets in the future in the near future so we must be ready for that we must make ready more and more people who are able to handle technologies so beside that there are certain common criteria which the skilled worker need to be filled or the corporate houses they want their workers they want their employees to have some qualities like problem solving ability good communication skill active learning resilience and flexibility then digital literacy then analytic skill and critical thinking so these are common this should be present in all the among all the workers and employees beside having their domain knowledge so in in the recent time these are the some area which are in high demand that is python programming digital networks cloud computing blockchain general statistics and analytics so these are the area where there is a huge demand there will be huge demand of manpower that analytics is a extensively used thing nowadays every company they analyze analytics to forecast their or to analyze their performance to forecast their activities and to take to take various decisions so all companies all big big companies they are having this data analysis team data analytics team it's not like that with the researchers or the academicians are using much more than we are using so there is a huge demand and at a very high level they are using then there is another area which is which is which is giving employment that is the freelancing of the gig area so about 20 million people in India are engaged in freelancing activities and for freelancing also we also need some skills so it has become very important or very or necessary to import technological skills among the youth of India only then we can dominate the market so this is from my side thank you if anybody has any query then it can be posted in the chat box we will try to answer it so the next session will be delivered by Dr. Sanika Sanapati I request Dr. Sanika Sanapati to take over the session thank you Dipankar and a very good evening to all my colleagues senior faculties and the learners and also the research scholars who are present here so I will be actually delivering on entrepreneurship development opportunities and the opportunities that are available and also the schemes that the government has come up with I will be sharing my screen okay so the economic development of a nation am I audible yes you are okay okay so the economic development of a nation actually depends on its industrial development as Dipankar has already pointed out and the industrial development is actually based on the entrepreneurial competencies of the people also and this concept of building entrepreneurship among the people and among the youth is the need of the hour and entrepreneurship when you talk about entrepreneurship it begins with the action and the creation of new organization so this organization may or may not become self-sustaining and in fact may never earn significant revenues but when an individual create a new organization they have entered into this entrepreneurship so for this the risk taking ability then self-confidence then decision making ability the knowledge of to harvesting then economic motivation market orientation so these are some of the indicators that are the behaviors of an entrepreneurship entrepreneurship in India is quite challenging it was quite challenging in the past few years but now there has been opportunities for the entrepreneurs and many people many youth have come out with they are being now entrepreneurs so economic growth as I have said is important for a country and a successful entrepreneur can increase the pace of the economic growth of the country in India to motivate the entrepreneurs the Indian government has been continuously working in this direction several agencies like directorate general of training then national skill development agency and national skill development corporations and also in government has taken initiatives like start up India and make in India to foster the entrepreneurship entrepreneurship development among the youths so it is very important that an entrepreneur possesses certain basic business skills and entrepreneurship skills so without properly established business skills or starting a business is very difficult so a successful entrepreneur holds both the right characteristics, right qualities and the business skills that are needed like creativity ambiguity you know they should know some kind of financial skills they must have so when we talk about the successful entrepreneur it is of prime importance that they possess personal qualities also so here I have shut down some of the qualities that is very important like a big idea when a youth when the entrepreneur think about an idea it should be something better than the other then entrepreneurs set massive goals for themselves and stay committed to achieving them regardless of the obstacles that come in future or that come in their way they should be creative they should be innovative they should be resourceful then an entrepreneur should have his ability to organize the various factors that has an impact on the business so they should understand all the aspects of business again risk taking ability or quality is of great importance because they should be ready to bear risk and uncertainties in business then decision making is again one has to take right decision at right time and quick decisions are expected but a hasty decision should not be taken and also delaying decisions may increase the cost of the project or cost it reduces the profit an entrepreneur should be always a continuous learner and they should be always open to the changes like they should be updated with the latest technology or service techniques and are always ready to change if they see new opportunities are coming up or new opportunities are there they should have this negotiation skills also then ultimately they should have this strong believe in themselves often what happens is that a strong and as as a personality becomes a successful entrepreneur so these are some of the abilities that I have mentioned but there are many more abilities and qualities are there so here I would like to also mention about digital entrepreneurship so in a world which is now witnessing this COVID-19 pandemic and also with the continuous and radical changes in the technology and innovations especially after this COVID-19 pandemic, entrepreneurs are now also developing business ideas that capitalize on power of technology entrepreneurs now have the opportunity to offer new products and services to the consumers through social media platforms like Instagrams or Facebook or Twitter and also they are using this e-commerce and also artificial intelligence plays an important role to measure their impact and the reach of the market so again digital entrepreneurs gain access to funding and resources through various sources like venture capital capital is then crowdfunding the bank loans also after pandemic there is a huge potential and opportunities for entrepreneurs in the sector like healthcare and sanitation then logistics and e-commerce then digital marketing is booming and online learning is also booming so in this slide I have actually jotted down some of the opportunities that are available at the initiation level as well as in the expansion level so textile is one of the oldest in the fast growing sector in India and it exports 11% of the world's total requirements so there are this sector has been going to 2 parts that is the organized sector and the unorganized sector so the modern technology that has been used like machines and techniques for production and production of the textile sector and all unorganized we can say that the hand loom and the handicrafts etc again as I have said training and education the online tutoring services entrepreneurs nowadays coming up with online tutorials tutorials so with good facilities at the competitive rates the entrepreneurs can attract more students so this there are lots of opportunities in the field of training and education when you talk about tourism we all know that wide opportunities in India of course because of its rich heritage and because of the beaches the diverse culture, the wildlife but however due to covid situation there has been an impact of the movement of the tourist but there has been a local movement and therefore a lot of opportunities for entrepreneurs in the field of tourism is there and by providing good transport facilities hotels of course guiding the tourists so definitely then energy sector there are broad opportunities in this sector like the requirement of energy is rising due to many reasons like betterment in living styles living standards and industrial development, agriculture development so to fulfill the energy demand there is a need for production of energy then supply of electrical devices then agriculture and indication machinery so these are some of the scopes in energy sector again food products like producing, consuming exporting, transporting again when there is opportunity in waste management and recycling also so this sector has a broad opportunity to start like recycling plant then energy production from waste then waste treatment plant then waste collection services so these are few opportunities in this waste management recycling then healthcare yes of course there is a large opportunity in this sector also like manufacturing then online marketing of the medicine and online selling of the medicine so there are a lot of scope in healthcare sector again organic farming has been in India since last for a long time but the importance of organic farming has grown especially with many foreigners preparing organic products so there are many small time farmers who have adopted this organic farming but still the demand is still unmet so offering many this organic farming has a lot of opportunities for the entrepreneurs also again media then toys yes Indian toy market is not that well organized but there are business opportunities in the toy sectors also like toys for education then wooden toys then sponge toys then balloon making toy stores so there are opportunities in packaging also packaging materials for machinery, chemicals, fertilizers for food products for food products for fruits packaging there are many opportunities here I would like also like to mention about social entrepreneurship that is social ventures actually it is an approach by the entrepreneurs or the startup companies in which they develop and fund and implement solutions to social, cultural and environmental issues so entrepreneurs can help the less privileged to get into employment so this is also one of the important opportunities that is there again franchising we all know that India is well connected with the world and franchising with leading brands who wants to spread across the countries could really offer a lot of opportunities for the young entrepreneurs then there is biotechnology so after the software sector biotechnology opens a huge potential so entrepreneurs can look into this plethora of options that are available with the application of biotechnology in the agriculture sector maybe in the horticulture or sericulture apaltry, dairy and production of fruits and vegetables so these are few sectors that I have discussed here there are ample of scopes available for the entrepreneurs now let us move towards the government initiatives so India is witnessing a startup boom across all the sectors that I have mentioned including this technology, health and food education and to encourage the budding entrepreneurs to kickstart this innovative business that will eventually create employment opportunities the government is offering innumerable schemes to make the process easy so the startup India initiative it was launched by prime minister of India in the year 2016 and the idea of this initiative is to increase the wealth and employability by giving wings to the entrepreneurs periods it is one of the best government sponsored startup schemes for entrepreneurs because as it provides several concessions also then make an India initiative it has not only encouraged the manufacturers but also the Indian buyers trust and invest in the domestic brands again this micro units development refinance agency that has been created to enhance the credit facility and boost the growth of small businesses in the rural areas actually this scheme has been introduced to support small businesses in India again this self-employment and talent utilization fund this is to facilitate the growth of startup firms and it has been set up by the government and under this scheme these 1000 crore has been allotted by the government in order to create opportunities for self-employment and new jobs mainly in the technological given domains again there is EBS portal the main purpose of this portal is to transform and develop a conducive business environment in the country and actually it was developed by Infosys in a public private partnership model and actually it is a communication centre for the investors and the business communities in India again there is incubation centre it was started by in the year 2016 and it is an innovative funding scheme to promote entrepreneurs by covering their capital operational costs and in 2017 the department of science and technology DST introduced this new generation innovation and entrepreneurship development centre program and the program is implemented by the entrepreneurship development institute of India EDII and it promotes the knowledge based and technology driven startups again I have mentioned here about MSME market development assistance and these startups micro small and medium enterprise and retailers registered with the director of industries can avail this scheme to expand their businesses across the world through international fairs or exhibitions again to promote the woman entrepreneurship there is the woman entrepreneurship platform which is again launched by Niti Ayo and it is actually the existing women entrepreneurs across India again a scheme for promotion of innovation real industries and entrepreneurship aspire the government has made continuous effort to improve the social and economic aspect of people in the rural areas of India so the spare scheme actually aims at increasing the employability employment then reducing the poverty and encouraging them to be innovative especially in the rural areas again there is daily processing and infrastructure development fund the IDF so this is again the government of India scheme which is announced for the creation of daily processing and infrastructure development fund under NABARD and all the milk unions multi-state milk cooperatives or state dairy federations who meet the eligibility criteria and the project can borrow loan from NABARD so finally I have discussed about the venture capital assistance scheme the small farmers agribusiness consortium has launched this venture capital assistance scheme for the welfare of farmers who are also entrepreneurs and to develop their agribusiness so again there are many schemes are there which has been launched by government of India and to develop an entrepreneurship in India so here are some of the institutions that you know promote skill based entrepreneurship here I have mentioned about national entrepreneurship and small business development this institution come under the ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship and it is it is for the development of the skills and the entrepreneurship development then the second is the rural self-employment training institute which is which comes under national institute of rural development panchayat raj and this institute actually helps the rural people under various aspects of self-employment and again entrepreneurship then entrepreneurship development institute of India as we all know this institute helps you know young people to take up entrepreneurship then explore this social entrepreneurship that I have mentioned then also you know increase their livelihood and improve their family business then lastly I have mentioned about national institute of micro small and medium enterprise NIMSME so it is a national institute which supports micro small and business enterprises so these institutions actually support not just the youngsters but the women entrepreneurs also and the people from the urban areas for entrepreneurship and help and extend support whoever wants to be an entrepreneur by helping them you know with by connecting them with the larger system by providing training and education along with the right information the funding information and the market linkages that are necessary in India in Assam also there is institute of entrepreneurship there is a center technology incubation center at IIT Guwahati which conducts several initiatives to promote and inspire entrepreneurship so here actually I have mentioned some of the successful stories of some entrepreneurs who are successful like first like Vijay Shekhar Sharma who owned the company of PTM he is the founder of PTM the digitized payment payments in India actually his background is engineering but he start up with this with this thing and he is now successful again Ritesh Agarwal who is the founder of Oyo Rooms so he is an engineer he was an engineer but then what happens is that he was not interested in profession of this engineering and somehow he redirected himself and he wrote a book called Indian Engineering Colleges a Complete Encyclopedia of Top 100 Colleges so that book was very immensely popular on Flipkart after that he shifted to this startup called the Auroville Stace and he improvised his business model and relaunched Auroville as Oyo again there is Bhavish Agarwal who owns this Ola Cap then Dipendra Goyal and Pankaj Chhada who owns this Zometo this has revolutionized the delivery segment in India through you know from do-to-do delivery of the food again they were the IIT graduates then the company which is Flipkart which is owned by Viniv Bansal and Sachin Bansal they are the founders of Flipkart and this is the e-commerce segment of India which was under drastic change and again Baijus when I talk about the online learning there are scope for opportunities in education sector Baijus is an example for that Baiju Rabindran has helped thousands of students who struggle with subject maths for science and helped them to crack examinations like JEE, NIT and UPSC also so Dinstha and Saurav Kumar so there are many many examples successful entrepreneurs but when we talk about northeastern part of India I would like to mention here about Lila Charan Tata who owns this CK Udhya Private Limited and you know Lila Charan is an entrepreneur who runs the bee keeping business and here I also like to mention about Mr. O Lanko which is extraordinarily talented and have this business skill and he actually has this strawberry farm and he is a strawberry grower and strawberries have been sold in the village so this strawberry farm has created a long lasting impact on the lives of the people in the village also so there has been a substantial increase in the income of the people also around this farm and again Ms. Nila Soikya who is the exporter, distributor and supplier of chili whole drive and chili powders, chili flakes and again our tea planter Ranjit Burwa he has this Aromica Tea Private Limited again, Meghalib Burra who is a proprietor of Meghalifood products who deals with the items like pickles and various spices Dilip Burwa is also one of the entrepreneur who is famous and is a managing director of Fabric Plus Private Limited and actually Fabric Plus is based on Guwahati and is a manufacturer of Asamsil and they export this product to many countries again there is a there is a Kaushik Boran and his partners who have come up with BRN, BNR River Boom which is a cruise they come up with a houseboat kind of a thing which is the first of its kind and it sailed on the Brahmaputra River again Sanjupta Latta who has this Sanjupta studio she was an engineer and worked in the PWD with Government of Assam but eventually she thought she realized that she is not into this field and you know she tries something to do and follow her passion and after that she became a designer where she represented Assam in Let Me Fashion Week also so there was a time in India when much importance was given to the Government jobs but later higher pay scales and good perks given by the private sectors or multinational companies have greatly inspire people to go into the multinational companies or the private sectors and today Indian economy is undergoing an immense makeover with new strategies rolling in the market emphasizing and enhancing the role and contribution of the startups so with the environment in India for you know starting an own venture coming up with own organization has become conducive and a great deal of entrepreneurship opportunities there in India and more and more people are now prepared to take the slate and also for this Government has taken initiatives as I have said for the development of the Indian startups to initiate startup to you know encourage the entrepreneurship entrepreneurs and with this India I think India seems to be going ahead and it was the golden era of entrepreneurship thank you so much I would like to call upon Dr. Bhavindo Dekar to continue with the presentation very good a very good afternoon to my respected colleagues our research scholars and my dear learners my earlier list Dr. Dipankar Malakar and Dr. Sriyanka Sanapati has rightly pointed out the various opportunities and initiatives taken by the Government of India regarding the skill development and entrepreneurial development for creating employment opportunities so I will go for the reverse size of that is the space by the skill development and entrepreneurship development program in India am I audible yes sir but I am unable to open my video the host is not allowing me to so you are you can try now sir yes yes yes thank you so I will go for my slide presentation I will be sharing my screen is it sharing is it visible yes I will be I will be discussing regarding the challenges of skill and entrepreneurship development creating employment and it is something going difficult to look out in my screen is it broken out Navankur it is ok sir you can scroll down and continue yes yes yes so first of all the challenges regarding the skill development and employability keeping in view the current infrastructure and the policy framework of challenges while going for creating employability for skill development the challenges faced in the skill development may be discussed as insufficient infrastructural capacity it has been noticed that many skill development institutions have far from lack of proper infrastructure current infrastructure facilities available in the educational institutions throughout the country are inadequate considering the huge demand for skill level there are not even trained highly skilled trainers available next low rate of vocational training according to 12 time document of planning commission 85% of the labor force in India have educational qualification up to secondary level with which only 55% have as much as 55% have an educational qualification only up to primary level and merely 2% of workforce has any vocational training due to lack of awareness about industrial requirements and the availability of matching vocational courses most of the prospective prospective students in the country do not go for vocational education whereas around 90% of the jobs are that is they require some sort of vocational training in reality only 2% of the population enroll in vocational training in India as compared to 80% in Europe and 60% in East Asian countries next declining rate of employability according to skill India skill report India skill reports 2021 45.9% of the Indian graduates are employable however it is declining from 46.21% in 2020 and 47.38% in 2019 MCA graduates are the least in terms of employability as only 22.42% of them are employable followed by polytechnic at 25.02% the BTEC graduates are most employable with 46.82% followed by MBAs at 46.59% then lack of employment opportunities and skills for women and workforce despite women being more employable and hireable than men it is the men who secure most jobs on average 64% of all professionals are men while only 36% of the workforce is women in India however a hopeful sign for the structural economic changes in the future is that the women participants is higher than the previous 5 years another issue regarding this is that women in India are mainly concentrated in the informal sector and are engaged in low-paid jobs with no security benefits the next is the impact of COVID-19 as we all know the industries were impacted by the harsh reality of COVID-19 schools were closed operations in the formal sectors and informal sectors of the economy were disturbed unemployment rose high and the 1.3 billion Indians are challenged by an unexempted option opponent unexpected opponent the supply chain was weakened by less men the level was restricted in many results of the world corporate layoffs corporate layoffs resulted in a spike in unemployment the informal sector of the economy was facing heavy issues then funding run run dry the funding sources of all governments on short programs were largely unavailable during September October 2020 when the lockdown was extended this created a lot of stress on small-scale development organization as a result they were forced to downsize their project staff then skill gap in India where there exists an enormous skill gap between the demand from industries and the kind of skills sets the young people acquired through their various educations and trainings of all the students applying for roles in the labor market a mere one third of number had the skills to match the requirement of the employer though we have sufficient member but they are not skilled enough to get the job next is skill gap in the IT industry majority of the employable resources are qualified in their domain of education however the evolving economy needs a skill talent pool hence on experience in various emerging technologies the inclusion of technology assets across industries has created a high demand for professional with enough of not for learning new skills and industry specific certifications then skills mismatch there are a lot of issues related to the skills needed by the industry the skills imported by the educational and training institutes there is a lack of industry facility interaction because because of which the skill sets provided by the educational and training institutes do not end up suiting the employer's requirements as a result though the people may be skilled but they do not get employment next demand and supply mismatch in India there is a serious mismatch between the education and skills that the youth attain and what the labor market demands it has been observed that there are more people than the available jobs at the low skills level while there are more jobs at the high skill level level than those available for such jobs next informal and formal sector skill gap in India around 12 million people are expected to join the workforce every year whereas the current total training capacity of the country is around 4.3 million thereby decreasing around 64 applicants of the opportunity of formal skill development every year the next challenge is a training of trainers training of trainers that is duty is one of the important skill development framework and absence of inefficiency of the same would result in serious bottleneck in the implementation of skill development projects in India the gross requirement of trainers is approximately 79,000 furthermore the annual incremental requirement of trainers is approximately 20,000 20,000 whereas at present the current capacity of the trainers is only 2,000 then lack of mobilization the outlook of people associated with skill development is still very traditional the environment of the students for vocational education and training has become an extremely challenging task the next challenge is the geographical imbalances the states with much higher economic growth rates have more new jobs with lower rate of labor force while on the other hand the states with slower economic growth rates have higher population growth rates with fewer new jobs geographically geography wise candidates from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu Uttarapadesh and Karnataka were found with highest employable talent while Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Phune again are among the cities moreover majority of foreign institutions are located in urban areas as compared to rural areas and even private sector institutions are also reluctant to operate in rural areas hence large opportunities of rural population do not have any formal vocational training institutions then lack of skill ability any model to be successful needs a lot of support from since there is a limited buy in from the corporate sector the progress of such initiatives is slow the next is low educational attainment vocational training in India is primarily imparted through the government and private industrial training institutes that is ITIs current annual training capacity of India is 4.3 million which is 20% less than the industrial requirement of 22 million skilled workers a year poor quality of education which result in lack of literacy and numeracy skills on the part of students these students finding extremely difficult to absorb even basic skills many skills stopped in curriculum are absolutely and they are in result is that workers are unable to find jobs according to their aspirations then lack of coordination between the job experience and employers there is a lack of platforms where industrial and government agencies can meet regularly for systematic implementation of curriculum for new skills ultimately it results in lack of coordination between the job experience and employers then unorganized sector do not get any kind of skilled training the private sector provides skill training as required by services service sector mainly to educated youth and largely in urban results ultimately hundreds of workers in sector do not get any kind of skill training which results in low productivity levels and employability gaps among majority of workers the next challenge is private sector participation the private sector is not involved in curriculum development and policy formulation relating to education and vocational training the next one is less than link challenges a major program India's existing skill development system is lack of linkage between education and placement of of that team workforce the next challenge is the lack of labor market institution information system that is LM highest the absence of proper labor management information system impacts the very objective impacts the very objective of the skill initiative in India as it results in full linkage between skill development and employment the last I have mentioned challenges of skill development is no focus on non-technical skills the vocational training centers in India is focusing on developing technical skills only whereas the employers feel the need of having behavioral skills also according to the India hiring intense survey the employers also focus on skills like skills like skills domain expertise communication honesty and integrity adaptability interpersonal skills etc. those are not covered as integral part of skill development so these are the challenges facing by facing in India while adopting skill development program for application of employment opportunities now I will point out some challenges regarding the entrepreneurship development while creating employment opportunities the first challenge facing by entrepreneurship entrepreneurship development in the field of entrepreneurship development is financing problem it is quite excellent tax for creating employability opportunities because the companies are facing some problems while starting a start up in India the first problem they are facing is financing problem getting funds for the business is one of the main issues that all business face is crucial for business businesses to endure and they always need to have extra funds to take care of rainy days while starting a new business and will certainly have restricted accessibility of funds then lack of planning it is impressive the number of start up fails since the fail to remember to do proper planning next one is the hiring the right talent not having the right people can produce extreme bottlenecks and also can delay the roll out of new products for services this is one of the issues that no start up can afford particularly in the early days the next one is of his infrastructure sufficient of his infrastructure workplace rent and associated costs are the first things that an entrepreneur should look at when he or she starting a new business it is quite a challenging task to get a suitable workplace then effective marketing within a limited budget some start up start up they can ignore marketing strategies entirely and hope that word of mouth will be sufficient for a start up it is essential to create visibility among the consumers effective marketing techniques within a limited budget should be made to reach the target for the answers next one is the creating awareness in markets start up fail due to a lack of attention to limitations in the markets the environment for a start up in India is usually more difficult than for an established firm due to the uniqueness of the product next one is the crisis entrepreneurs have to go through many stresses one of the constant problems faced by entrepreneurs is they may be related to its business or family even big entrepreneurs like Ratan Tata Anayana Murmuti have faced criticism and still face them as a new entrepreneur he see my face bit more next challenge is finding finding the right customers finding the customers it's really hard to attract customers for any company that is starting out especially if they are a business with a limited marketing budget this problem always plays a place on every entrepreneur's mind and the fact that people tend to stick with well known brands they are familiar with makes it harder for them to sell their products next one is facing failure it is not necessary that every ideas will work if you are trying a lot of new things not everything will work and will not succeed at each of these ideas then challenges involve in rural entrepreneurship the rural entrepreneurship is facing so many challenges namely family social challenges technological challenges financial challenges policies challenges etc and last one is current major issues in India are also influencing the entrepreneur development in India the current issues like corruption, illiteracy, poverty women's safety etc are influencing entrepreneurial development in India so this is all about from my side regarding the challenges facing by skill development and entrepreneurship development while going for creating employment opportunities thank you thank you all this session is open for discussion if someone have any observations and questions you can put here I request my fellow colleague Dr. Dipankal Malakar and Dr. Shreya Nikesanapati please handle sir there is one question from a query from she has asked women nowadays we can they are coming up with new ventures and an example of is this that Indian women worker cooperative involved in the manufacturing of various fast moving consumer goods specially known for its digital paper so this is a success story that we all know and it is also very important to help an assist women as an entrepreneur I think there are so many schemes available for them what do you all say on this so this query I would like to answer this take up this query yes we all know that this this Mahila Grieha Utyok ledger paper which is popularly known as ledger are involved in manufacturing of consumer goods and this is they are mainly known for ledger paper so this organization is mainly focus and their objective is to empower the women by providing them with employment opportunities so this is an example of women entrepreneurship and this was long back so when women should be encouraged for new ventures we all know that women consist of 50% of the total population and therefore they must be encouraged to contribute to the economy of the country and to be self-sufficient financially and mentally also so when women entrepreneurs normally we know that mostly they take up the labor intensive small scale and village industries or handicrafts related ventures and they have this potential in employment generation also so this is also a solution to the widespread problem of women unemployment to some extent so women should be they should be encouraged to be an entrepreneur and yes of course government of India has come up with many initiatives I've already mentioned about women entrepreneurship platform and there are special incentives and drives that have created that have strengthened the growth of women entrepreneurs the scheme like startup India that I have said then there are schemes like national credit fund for women then there are many schemes from net fee like women enterprise development schemes so there are lots of schemes that have been provided to the women entrepreneurs and definitely they if they contribute in the economy of the country they must be encouraged there is one more question from Gandip Mahananda Gandip Mahananda are you there Gandip Mahananda I think he has left the meeting anyway he has put two question one is how can we raise fund for the startup and secondly how to build a right and good team how we can raise a how we can raise funds for the startup so nowadays there are many schemes initiated by both central as well as state government there are many incubation centers where some of the incubation centers also arrange for necessary funds and in case of Assam it is the NEST which is situated in the in Umbari area near this near AGPO fees that is the organization which provide consultancy and all other help for a new startup in Assam so this is the best place I think to consult since it is a government agency for raising funds and how to raise funds that institute I think will best guide you and the next question is how to build a right and good team it is obviously very difficult question because it is related to managing the human resource so which is the most challenging task in the globe so it is always difficult to handle human resource so how one can build a good team number one the one should know the behavior of the person and accordingly we should react or treat number one number two is the leader or the person who is starting the business he must be accept the business secret other things must be disclosed to the team he must put faith on the team members and there should not be I mean the information should not be hide from the other members and there should be a democratic participation everyone's need to be or allowed to be participate or allowed to raise his or her voice and everything should be bring into light of everyone and decisions need to be taken in consultation so these are the some way through which one can nurture a good team that is again one skill it lacks among many Indian many Indian leaders many Indian of course businessman cannot succeed if he lacks this quality so one successful entrepreneur businessman must have to have the quality of building a team but so far the leadership is concerned it is yes it is obvious and it is very transparent that they fail to build the team so because of these reasons so one must be ever or must be alert about the others dignity of the rights others liabilities so and everyone must be this is how one team can be managed I have answered with the question is there any other question no so so we can think we have come to the end of this webinar I suppose if anybody has any query then they can raise their hands so we can take I suppose one more query if there is any if anyone to talk I think he has raised his hand are you there he can type his question and the question answer he can unmute himself and he can speak I think he is not there so thank you all for hearing we will conclude thank you