Govt plans skill varsity in State: Minister

The Pioneer, Oct 23, 2009

PNS | Bhubaneswar

Inaugurating the Partners’ Meet organised by the Skill Development Wing of the Human Development Foundation (HDF) at its campus near Trishulia, Minister for Higher Education Debi Prasad Mishra revealed that the State Government is trying to set up a Skill University in partnership with the Central Government, which would give a major boost to the efforts of skill development in Orissa.

The event attended by almost 100 training institutions from different parts of the state, were keen to work with the HDF to take the Modular Employable Skills (MES) programme of the Ministry of Labour and Employment extend to all eligible youth in the State.

The programme was also attended by Director, Apex Hitech Institute, Bangalore and Regional Director of Apprenticeship Training SG Amalan, who emphasised the potential of Orissa's workers and artisans as well as the untapped opportunities in the areas of services sector — tourism and hospitality. Amalan, appealed the gathering to become a part of the important initiative of Union Government. Painting a very optimistic picture for the youths of India in light of the worldwide shortage of skilled labour, Amalan committed his support in achieving the goal of creating 15 million trained workers in the 12th Five Year plan.

Earlier in the day, director of Skill Development Wing of HDF KM Pattnaik welcomed the guests and elaborated the important features of the MES scheme. Chairman of HDF DK Mishra, introduced the work of the foundation and highlighted its importance in the area of skill development given the large number of school drop-outs who had little options in building a career. Sudarsan Das, secretary of HDF highlighted the need for certification of existing skilled workers to enhance their income generating potential. State Programme Officer of UNDP Ambika Prasad Nanda, spoke on the impact of migration as per the recent Human Development Report published by the UNDP. Director of HDF School of Management Haribandhu Panda presided over the meeting. Later, an interaction was held to work out the modalities of the partnership between the organisations and HDF.