Punjab Government on Monday approved new courses and curriculum for skill development in various streams which would be offered to nearly 15,000 youths in the state annually.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal gave his approval while presiding over a meeting to finalise skill training courses for unemployed youths and upskilling the already employed in specific fields including healthcare and paramedics, horticulture, agriculture, allied farming and construction activity.
Badal also directed the Technical Education secretary to engage best training agencies to enhance the infrastructure of five upcoming Multi-Skill Development Centres (MSDCs) at ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur and Bathinda with total intake capacity of 7,500 trainees.
The Chief Minister informed that apart from these, three more skill development centres to impart training in healthcare and paramedics were being established in Government Medical Colleges of
Patiala, Amritsar and Faridkot with total intake capacity of 1,200 trainees per year, said the Government spokesperson.
likewise, 4,800 trainees would be provided training in the upcoming construction and building skill development centres at Mohali, ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar, he said.
Spokesperson said that as many as 900 youths would be trained in horticulture, gardening, landscaping, bee-keeping, mushroom cultivation in the Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), ludhiana, with a focused approach to promote the much needed programme of agriculture diversification.
With all these initiatives in different sectors to promote skill development, the state government would be able to impart training to
14,400 youth under this ambitious programme to commence from the next year, he said.
Chief Minister of State Badal also gave green signal to initiate a special programme to provide on-site training to workers employed in different factories to upskill them in a phased manner.
Nearly 10,000 such workers would be imparted specialised training as per the needs of local industry in the first phase so as to upgrade their skills in a meaningful and result oriented manner, he said.
The Chief Minister of the State also asked the concerned departments entrusted with the task of establishing these skill centres to provide hostel facilities to the trainees and ensure that these were ready in all aspects well before the commencement of these skill training courses.