Bhopal : The Madhya Pradesh government has earmarked Rs 1,600 crore for the expansion of training infrastructure and skill development capacity over the next five years. The scheme is to generate employment for youths and provide manpower to industries as per their requirement.
The plan named as ‘MP Skill and Quality Improvement Programme’ would undertake modernization of skill development institutes and conduct courses for the youths. The first academic session would begin in the coming financial year, said the officials in the technical education department.
“This is for the first time that 21 states are taking up this initiative. In Madhya Pradesh, we will train 7.5 lakh youths in semi-skilled and skilled manpower which will give a big boost to employment generation,” said minister of state for technical education Deepak Joshi.
As per the plan, all 313 blocks of the state would have at least one skill development centre (SDC) while the number of polytechnics would also be raised to 30,000 in next five years. The government would also set up high-end ITIs with high-end traders in all major cities, said the minister.
For the programme, the government is seeking financial assistance from Asian Development Bank (ADB) and received Rs 150 crore as first installment. The ADB agreed to provide a loan of Rs 1,005 crore for the project while the state government would contribute Rs 603 crore from various funds.
To give a boost to employment, the government formed a separate cell for placement. Once training is over, the department would follow up on the status of students two years after they are employed.
The government would also set up mega Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) to train youths according to industry need and facilitate private sector’s participation for establishment of training institutions across the state. This would also include upgrading infrastructure of existing training institutions and setting up of centres of excellence (COEs) in key sectors in those institutions.
Officials said that the curriculum and content of the training programme would be according to industry’s requirement. This would enhance the quality and infrastructure in trainers’ institutions, expand placement and self-employment opportunities and facilitate mechanism to support industry initiatives under corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Initially, 25 departments would provide skill training and private engineering colleges would be encouraged to operate polytechnic and ITI-level courses. In Bhopal, the government plans to set up a ‘Skill Park’ with technical assistance from Singapore’s ITE Education Services (ITEES), which offers consultancy and training services in skill development and vocational training. The park would train 5,000 skilled manpower annually.
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