Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurates ITI at Ledo

OUR CORRESPONDENT

TINSUKIA: Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated ITI at Ledo, first of the 27 new such ITIs in the State, virtually from Margherita on Wednesday in presence of Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Minister of Transport, Industry and Commerce, Parliamentary Affairs and SEED MLA of Margherita, Director, Employment & Craftsmen Training Assam, Deputy Commissioner of Tinsukia and other senior government officials.

In his address, Sonowal said that through the ITI set up under PPP mode, youths of Ledo would be trained as skilled workforce for the industries located in upper Assam. The trades such as Fitter, Electrician, Welder, Computer Operator & Programming Assistant (COPA), Mechanic Diesel Engine and Wireman as per NCVT curriculum had been accordingly selected in ITI Ledo to cater to the market requirement of the region, he stated. This has paved the way for capacity building of 256 youths in long-term courses and many more through short-term courses in Ledo alone, he added.

With the focus of the Government of Assam to provide vocational training along with skill development and job opportunities, mainly to the un-served areas of the State, the concept of PPP model emerged, the Chief Minister said, adding that keeping this priority requirement in mind, the Government of Assam had taken the initiative of introducing 18 new ITIs and 6 Multi-Disciplinary Skill Development (MDSD) centers handed over by the Department of Industries under PPP mode in the current session. In Assam, at present 32 government ITIs, 7 NCVT private ITIs and 52 private ITIs under ScVT are providing training in 42 engineering and non-engineering trades. Selection of PPP mode private partner has been done through a process of RFP, he said. The 24 ITIs under PPP mode will add another 2,040 seats approximately to the existing capacity of 16,418 seats in long-term National Council of Vocational Training (NCVT) trades. The trades selected in these ITls vary from demand-driven trades such as electrician and fitter to meet the wage earning opportunities in the industries in general vis-à-vis baker and confectioner, Civil Engineering assistant, tourism and hospitality. The ITIs being set up under PPP mode will facilitate vocational training of the local youths of the State to foster skill development leading to sustainable employment generation and also to bridge the skill gap requirement of the industries.

Sonowal was optimistic that the initiative conceptualized under the PM's Atmanirbhar Bharat programme would give local entrepreneurs and training partners the opportunity to get associated with the Government of Assam in setting up these ITIs in PPP mode.

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