Guwahati, Oct. 18: The Assam government has tied up with Guwahati Refinery, which belongs to Indian Oil Corporation, to train underprivileged youths in driving commercial vehicles under a skill development project.

Assam labour and employment minister Pallab Lochan Das today launched the first commercial light motor vehicle (LMV) driving course at the industrial training centre here.

The 45-day course has been designed by the state transport department and the directorate of employment and craftsmen training with a view to train the youths and prepare them for jobs.

The IOC has sponsored the training for 100 youths in the first phase, of which, a batch of 20 boys and 10 girls will be trained in LMV driving and given a commercial driver's licence at the institute itself. Technical staff from the state transport department will supervise the training.

"The training will help underprivileged youths to enhance their driving skills, get accustomed to the rules of driving, inculcate better road sense for safe driving and more importantly sustain an income by getting absorbed in firms that run app-based cabs," Das said.

The minister said the initiative was taken on the basis of an assessment of the huge demand for drivers in app-based cab companies here.

"The state transport department and skill department is supporting the project and discussions with private and public sector undertakings will be carried out in due course to provide skills to more drivers and create job opportunities," the minister said.

"Other job creation mechanisms such as job melas and career counselling centres are also in our scheme of things," he added.

A driving simulator was also inaugurated at the Industrial Training Institute (ITI) today.

There are 28 ITIs in Assam, of which only the ones in Guwahati, Nagaon and Tinsukia have such courses, sources in the employment directorate said.