For the first time, as many as 30 bidders participated in the pre-bid meeting held to allocate three Multi Skill Development Centres (MSDCs) run by Punjab Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training Department.

Attributing the overwhelming response from the training partners and renewed public confidence to the “change at the helm of the affairs in the State”, the Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training Minister Aman Arora on Sunday said that the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led Punjab Government has been pulling out all the stops to open new job avenues for the youth of the state by honing their skills.

Arora said that Punjab Skill Development Mission has five Multi Skill Development Centres — one each in Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Bathinda, Amritsar, and Hoshiarpur. The MSDCs in Jalandhar, Bathinda, and Ludhiana have become vacant, and these centres are to be allocated to training agencies shortlisted through a Request for Proposals (RFP) process.

“These MSDCs have training capacity of 4500 candidates in a year — 1500 candidates in each MSDC.  Professional courses will be run for students in these centres,” he added.

Congratulating the officials of Punjab Skill Development Mission (PSDM) for providing a conducive environment to training partners and Industrial Associations, Arora assured all the stakeholders every possible support to ensure optimum utilisation of MSDCs.

Arora informed that PSDM floated the RFPs for all three MSDCs last month, through the e-procurement portal of the State.

The Cabinet Minister said that the courses must run in the MSDCs according to requirements of the Industry, while asking the officials to focus on bridging the gap between industrial requirements and skilled manpower.

He further informed that the State Government is all set to introduce the state's very own Skill Training Scheme to further enhance youth employability, besides, equipping college, ITI and polytechnic students with life and soft skills.