Kalahandi missing for major industrial parks in Odisha

Industries must benefit common man: CM
Expressbuzz, Nov 21, 2009


BHUBANESWAR: Inclusive growth is one of the biggest challenges before industrialisation. In order to make the process of growth inclusive, impact of industrial progress has to be visibly felt on the lives of the common man, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said here today.Unveiling ‘Enterprise Orissa 2009,’ the annual flagship event of CII Orissa, Naveen said, one way of actively promoting these beneficial impact is through enhanced employment opportunities for local people - directly or indirectly.The State Government, he said, has set clear guidelines for employment of the local community at various skill levels by the industries.However, the much more has to be done by industries in this regard who the Chief Minister said must promote ancillary and downstream activities. An aluminium park is being set up at Angul, while other similar projects include a stainless steel park at Kalinga Nagar, downstream park at Rourkela, plastic park in Balasore and a bio-technology park near Khurda. Since employability improvement is a major thrust area, Naveen laid emphasis on technical education and said the number of students who pass out from ITIs and polytechnics has increased from about 15,000 to one lakh a year.“Greater thrust is being given to curriculum development and enhancement of infrastructure for continued development of technical education, he said adding, all the industries setting up new projects have been asked to set up one or two ITIs in their locality.Speaking on the occasion CII Eastern Region Chairman Mukul Somany said the organisation has worked on assessing skill set gaps in the State. One of the major tasks is to bridge the gap to improve employability and increase the value chain as development of ancillary and downstream industries. Industries Secretary Saurav Garg, State CII Chairman SS Nandurdikar, past chairman SK Mohapatra and vice-chairman RK Jena also spoke.