Skilling: Karnataka to create one crore jobs in 5 years

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Skill and Livelihood Taskforce has been formed to create one crore jobs in the next five years, Chief Minister of the State B S Yediyurappa said on Thursday.

“Karnataka Skill and Livelihood Taskforce has been formed to create one crore job opportunities in the next five years. It is expected to submit its report shortly,” he said. He said this after observing the ‘World Youth Skill Day’ organised by the Department of Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood today.

Noting that the country, the second highest populated one in the world after China, has human resources of youth belonging to the 18-35 age group, the Chief Minister said Karnataka has a population of 2.21 crore within the age group of 16-35 and many programmes have been initiated to improve the economic and social development of the State by skilling the youth to global standards.

The State has signed an agreement with Tata Technologies to upgrade 150 government ITIs (Industrial training institutes) by September at a cost of Rs 4,636.50 crore, he was quoted as saying by the CMO (Chief Minister’s Office) in a statement.

Listing out the various initiatives taken by the government for skill development, Yediyurappa further said it is intended to release Rs 400 crore for 1,93,000 self-help groups as Community Investment Fund under the National Rural Livelihood Campaign. So far, 17,121 self-help groups have received Rs 149.03 crore. Eight MoUs (memoranda of understanding) were inked between the government and leading companies with a view to equipping the youth with skills.

The pacts were signed in the presence of Yediyurappa and C N Ashwath Narayan, Deputy Chief Minister who is also the Minister for Skill Development, Entrepreneurship, and Livelihood. The MoUs include starting courses related to the automotive sector in selected ITIs in the districts of Bengaluru, Ramanagara, and Tumakuru in collaboration with Toyota Motors, said the Deputy Chief Minister’s office in a statement.

It said other companies with which MoUs were entered include Wipro, GE, Narayana Hrudayalaya, ELCIA, ESDM Cluster, Adithya Birla Group, and Home Lane. An agreement with Auto Desk company to provide training in Mastercam Design Software at Karnataka Germany Technology Training Institute (KGTTI) was also signed. “The government has planned to sign 40 such MoUs with various companies out of which the eight were signed today. The remaining will be inked shortly,” Narayan said