New skill training courses for the youth :

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal 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.

Mr Badal gave the approval while presiding over a meeting to finalise skill training courses for unemployed youths and upgrading the skills of the employed in specific fields including health care and paramedics, horticulture, agriculture, allied farming and construction activity, an official release said.

The Chief Minister directed the Secretary of Technical Education 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, it said.

The Chief Minister was informed that apart from these, three more skill development centres were being established in the Government Medical Colleges of Patiala, Amritsar and Faridkot with total intake capacity of 1,200 trainees per year.

Likewise, 4,800 trainees would be provided training in the upcoming construction & building skill development centres at Mohali, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar.

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, the release stated.

With all these initiatives in different sectors to promote skill development, the state government would be able to impart training to 14,400 youths under this ambitious programme to commence from the next year, it said.

Mr 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 also asked the departments concerned 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. 

Source : The Hindu