Odisha set for skill training of 6.3 lakh youth

BHUBANESWAR : The State Government has set an ambitious target to provide placement linked skill training to about 6.3 lakh youths by 2018-19 through different programmes of the Centre.

In his presentation on skill development in Odisha at the National Conference of Chief Secretaries of States and Union Territories chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday, Chief Secretary AP Padhi said Odisha, which has been recognised as the best-performing State in the country, will be a model for other States.

“Odisha will be a sandbox of innovation. We are connecting skill with entrepreneurship and building ‘nano unicorns’ with assistance from the Nirvana Fund of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC),” Padhi said. The State Government’s efforts at skill development is to shift the conversation from “skill” to “Skilled-in-Odisha”. It is a goal that is galvanising the entire skill eco-system of the State, he added. In three years, Padhi asserted, corporate India will lock in with Odisha to meet their requirement of skilled personnel and in the next five years “Odisha Model” will be worth emulating in other parts of the world.