Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday launched the 'Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Skill Training and Employment Area Development Scheme' in Lucknow, on the 151st birth anniversary of Sardar Patel, IANS reported.

The initiative, costing Rs 1,725 crore, aims to develop Uttar Pradesh as a global manpower hub. Over the next three years, all 75 districts of the state will be connected through nine skill training and employment zones, with major centres in the first phase at Lucknow, Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Gautam Buddh Nagar and Jhansi.

Source: Daily Kiran

Placement cells, hostels and language training

Adityanath said the centres will provide training in both Indian and foreign languages, keeping overseas employment opportunities in view. Each centre will have a dedicated placement cell, while hostel facilities will be available for students arriving from distant areas, he said.

Source: IANS via Hi India

The launch event also marked the start of an 'Employment Friend Portal' and 'Blue Dot Shared Digital Infrastructure' to connect youth with local job opportunities, with partnerships involving the Tata Indian Institute of Skills and the Asian Development Bank, Daily Kiran reported. Loans under MSME and youth entrepreneur schemes and toolkits under ODOP and Vishwakarma schemes were also distributed at the event.

Alleging that the Congress and Samajwadi Party had viewed the young workforce as a 'burden', Adityanath said his government regarded it as an 'asset' and had connected that scale with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's skill development mission. He said more than 9.5 lakh young people had received direct government jobs in the last nine-and-a-half years — a figure he cited at the launch.

Source: IANS via Hi India