Rajasthan-Singapore – Sturdier Relations

Chief Minister, Vasudhara Raje in formal meeting with Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Environment and Water Resources, Singapore discussed a range of issues. On the second day of her official visit to Singapore, Chief Minister in course of the discussion flagged issues pertinent the State and briefed Mr. Balakrishnan on the Rajasthan reform agenda.

Mr. Balakrishnan was appreciative of Rajasthan’s recent efforts and both leaders agreed that education for all is the key to all round development. Both leaders agreed that perspective planning and proper enforcement of statutes is important for effective implementation. Mr. Balakrishnan gave the example of the Marina Barrage Project, which was not just an engineering feat but also called for enforcement against littering, smart metering etc. Political patronage, said Mr. Balakrishnan, should also extend to enforcement.

Chief Minister Raje enquired on the water pricing mechanism in place in Singapore and showed interest to the concept of linking prices to the opportunity cost of desalination of water.

The two leaders discussed on how ITI graduates could be involved in setting up solar panels, laying down and repair pipelines and carrying out over all maintenance thereby reducing overheads and bringing in efficiency. Smt. Raje also enquired the possibility of having small, decentralized manufacturing of membranes in Rajasthan. The two leaders also had detailed discussions on maximizing Rajasthan’s advantages in the solar sector.

Government of Rajasthan also signed a document of acceptance with ITE, Singapore to transform technical training in Rajasthan starting with ITI, Udaipur.
In course of the second day of her official visit Chief Minister Raje visited ITE, Singapore, which is principal provider of career options and technical education and also principal authority in developing national occupational skill certification and standards to enhance Singapore’s workforce competitiveness.

The Government of Rajasthan has already engaged with ITE and intends to develop ITI Udaipur as a model of excellence.

Chief Minister and members of the Rajasthan delegation had detailed interactions with the ITE team on skill development and employability issues in Rajasthan. The discussions revolved around how to add value to government ITI’s including improvement of infrastructure and software. Skill gaps and how to bridge them, re-designing ITI courses, training of trainers, making apprenticeship training more attractive and creation/development of Champion ITI’s of global standards are some of the issues deliberated upon.

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