Aiming to impart technological skills to nearly one lakh unemployed youths in a phased manner in Punjab, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday asked the State Technical Education and Industrial Training department to engage world class agencies for the purpose.
Badal, presiding over a high-level meeting to finalise the modalities of the programme to provide skill training to the unemployed youth in the field of health-care, paramedics, driving and automotive, animal husbandry, allied farming and construction activity, directed the state Technical Education secretary to engage the best skill training and placement agencies.
The agencies with proven track record should be roped in to enhance the capacity building of five upcoming Multi-Skill Development Centres (MSDCs), with intake capacity of 7500 trainees, he said.
The MSDCs would be set up at ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Amritsar and Hoshiarpur. It would offer skill training courses in light engineering, hand tools, garment and fashion technology and welding and others in accordance with needs of local industry.
Technical Education secretary Rakesh Verma apprised the Chief Minister that contractors, selected after
tender process, have already been allotted the construction work and the MSDCs would be become functional from April 2016.
The renowned skill development and placement agencies would be entrusted with the task for operational management, including execution of aptitude test, admission, training module and placement, he said.
Verma also informed Badal that another MSDC, with an intake capacity of 1,500 would set up at Sri Anandpur Sahib. Site has already been identified for the purpose, and it would be handed over to the Technical Education department in due course of time, he added.
Besides, three skill development centres to impart training in healthcare and paramedics were being established in the government medical colleges of Patiala, Amritsar and Faridkot with total intake capacity of 2,250 trainees.
likewise, 5,600 trainees would be provided training in the upcoming construction and building skill development centres at Mohali, ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar.
Apart from this, nearly 4,200 youths would be given training in driving and automotive skills at the new centres being set up at Malerkotla and Kapurthala.
With a focused approach to promote the much-needed program of agriculture diversification in a big way, nearly 700 trainees would be imparted training in specially designed courses related to activities in the field of animal husbandry and allied farming such as dairying, piggery, bee keeping, fishery, floriculture and horticulture etc in the Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) and Guru Arjan Dev Veterinary and Animal Science University (GADVASU), ludhiana, he said.
With all these initiatives in different sectors to promote skill development, the state government would be able to impart training to 21,750 youth under this ambitious program during its first phase, said Verma.