File Photo: Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.

Taking forward the NDA government's Skill India campaign, the railways will provide space and manpower for the carrying out of skill development programmes across the country."Skill development is very important and now we will be working for that purpose," Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said in New Delhi today after signing an MoU with Skill Development and Entrpreneurship Ministry.The public transporter will provide unutilised and less-utilised spaces at stations, workshops, railway schools and training institutes for the skill development programmes in the country.It will also provide manpower to impart skill training on rail premises."Our railway employees will also impart training as part of their social responsibility," Mr Prabhu said.There are about 7,000 stations on the railways' network along with a good number of workshops and training institutes some of which are not fully utilised. So these spaces will be used for skill training programmes.Describing the signing of the MoU with the railways as a "momentous occasion". Skill Development Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said the transporter "is a big organisation and we are doing a massive skill training programme across the country".With the signing of the MoU, National Skill Development Corporation will be able to provide the right platform to a large number of the rural unemployed youth to learn skills that will help them become economically self-reliant and productive members of the society, officials said.Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally launch the National Skill Development Mission by unveiling the new National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and rolling out on an all-India basis the ministry's flagship scheme, 'Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikash Yojana' tomorrow.The government has set a target of skilling 40.2 crore people by 2022 under the new National Policy for Skill Development.The Prime Minister will also launch the Kaushal Vikas Yojana on the same day at a mega event to mark the World Youth Skills Day here.