Thiruvananthapuram, April 23: Many in Kerala look down upon blue-collar jobs even though thousands of Keralites do such jobs abroad and elsewhere in India. To get rid of this perception is the primary objective of state-owned Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE), said a top official. Blue-collar jobs primarily include electricians, plumbers, carpenters, traditional craftsmen, refrigeration and air-conditioning mechanics, those involved in wall and floor tiling, bakery and restaurant services, florists and others. Aiming to skill the young workforce of Kerala, as also elevate their skills to global standards, KASE promotes, establishes, sets up, monitors, governs and regulates institutions and academies. Talking to IANS, KASE Director Sriram Venkitaraman, a young doctor-turned-bureaucrat, pointed out “the day the perception towards blue-collar jobs in our state changes, Kerala will have no reason to look back”. “If one goes to the Middle East, we can see Keralites happily working at such jobs; but that’s not the case here. “Our aim is to see that we change this perception and for that we have already started equipping all such people with additional skills. If things go as planned, all such workers will soon be making a beeline not just to Middle East but to other parts of the world as we have a huge population of the youth seeking jobs,” said Venkitaraman.He said they have started to tap into the industrial training institutes — 91 in the government sector and 450 in the private sector — where more than 60,000 youth who have completed school education join annually.