The State Government was making earnest efforts to make the youth skillful so that they could get more gainful employment and self-employment opportunities in various sectors, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said on Friday while presiding over the programme organized by the HP Kaushal Vikas Nigam on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day.

The Chief Minister said that the State Government was committed to provide all possible assistance to the youth of the State for their skill upgradation and improvement so that they could earn their livelihood in a better way. He said that it was essential for youth to hone their skills in the field of their interest so that they could get gainful employment.

Thakur said that the theme of this year’s World Youth Skills Day was ‘Learning and Skills for Life, Work and Sustainable Development', adding that the purpose of celebrating this day was to promote different types of skills among the youth of the world so that they could get employment opportunities and earn a good living with their skills.  

He said that under Himachal Pradesh Skill Development Project contracts worth Rs. 545 crore have been awarded so far and Rs. 195 crore has been paid by ADB under Himachal Pradesh Skill Development Project.  Apart from this, a Center of Excellence in Tourism and Hospitality and IT sector was being established at Waknaghat in Solan district with the help of ADB, he added.

Thakur said that with a focus on higher and aspirational skills, Himachal Pradesh Skill Development Corporation has signed MoUs with Government institutions and universities to provide training to about 16,000 Himachali youth in various subjects like Artificial Intelligence, Web Designing, Machine Learning. Apart from this, short term up-skilling and multi-skilling training has been started through the state's government industrial training institutes, he said.

The CM said that Skill Development Corporation has started 'Navdharana Programme' for the differently-abled, under which skill training would be given to 300 candidates in the field of retail, tourism and hospitality. He said that Himachal Pradesh Skill Development Corporation was the agency for implementation of the state component of Pradhan Mantri Vikas Yojana. He said that third phase of this plan was in progress and more than 16,200 youth have been enrolled in this.  Under the third phase, more than 1,600 trainees of the state have been trained.

He said  that Skill Development Corporation was also implementing the Sankalp program in the state with the help of the World Bank, pointing out that this programme aims at strengthening the institutional mechanism and skill ecosystem across the state.  He said that the Corporation had signed an MoU with Handicrafts and Handlooms Corporation Limited in the year 2021. Efforts were being made to upgrade the state's specific arts and craftsmanship and increase the marketing capacity to 200 stakeholder artisans, he added.

Chief Minister also virtually interacted with the trainees of Kaushal Vikas Nigam at Padhar in Mandi district and trainees at NIFT Kangra on the occasion. He also interacted with a few trainees and beneficiaries of various courses implemented through Kashaul Vikas Nigam present at Peterhof.   He also released e-magazine and Mobile App of Kaushal Vikas Nigam on the occasion. He also honoured various organizations engaged in skill upgradation activities and projects on the occasion.

Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) were also signed with HP Aayush Department for SPA Therapist Job Role, Department of Women and Child Development for training of stakeholders of Child care institutes and conduct of other Training of Trainers (ToTs) and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) International for conduct of skill development training for Himachali youth aimed at international placement.

Information Technology and Technical Education Minister  Ram Lal Markanda said that the State Government was laying stress on skill upgradation of the youth through ITI, Polytechnic colleges and other Engineering institutions. He said that over 6800 youth have been provided job placements in the campus interviews in these institutions. He said that work on the Centre of Excellence coming up at Waknaghat was going in full swing. He said that MoUs have been signed with several institutions by the Kaushal Vikas Nigam to start various courses for skill upgradation of the youth.