Bengaluru : The Karnataka government has earned much applause for creating a dedicated department for skill development. The logical progression from there is to find employment to the 1.5 lakh persons who are being trained.
The Kaushalya Karnataka programme, launched 18 months ago by the previous regime, was meant to provide skills to the unemployed in the 18-35 age group. When the Department of Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood launched the programme, there was a flood of applications.
Data point out that as of September this year, 8.95 lakh applications were received and roughly 5% (47,000) were from Bengaluru City. In the past year, the department tele-counselled and interviewed these applicants to understand their aspirations and interests and shortlisted 2.5-lakh candidates. These candidates (10,000 from Bengaluru City) are undergoing training in around 650 government-accredited training centres.
The shortlisting had its own challenges. “There were applicants aged over 70 but were keen to undergo training. We also faced issues with the selection of eligible candidates for suitable training as a lot of them would randomly select any training that first appeared on the website page,” an official from the Skill Development Department said.
For instance, about 40% of those who applied selected “aeronautics” because it appeared first in alphabetic order. “We did not know their interest and strength till we interviewed them face to face,” the officer said.
The department gave options of 136 skill roles in 40 sectors. Applicants from Bengaluru wanted training in banking, financial services and insurance, automotive and IT and IT-enabled services.
The challenge now is to find placement for those passing out in December. “A majority register with the hope of getting a decent job. The first question they ask is if they will get a job after completing the course. So the success of the programme depends on the number of recruitments,” said an officer at the Bengaluru Urban Zilla Panchayat office who handles skill development and employment.
To address this, the government has decided to make it mandatory for shops and commercial establishments across the state to share their job vacancy details with the Skill Development Department.
“We are in the process of amending the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961, which will make it compulsory for shops to share the details of job vacancies, category of employment and qualifications required with the department,” said Amlan Aditya Biswas, secretary to the Department of Labour and Skill Development.
The government’s idea is to display job requirement on the Kaushalya Karnataka website. “Once we know the industry requirement, we can train the youth to fit into those roles,” Biswas said.
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