Bhubaneswar, Aug. 8: The Odisha government is planning to turn its existing employment centres into “career counselling centres”. The centres will provide inputs to unemployed youths who have enrolled themselves with the Odisha employment exchange.

An official said students coming from rural areas would be updated on the current employment scenario and the skills they needed to get job in particular areas through these counselling centres.

“The Odisha government’s objective of creating 10 lakh skilled manpower in the state in the next five years would not be fulfilled if we don’t convert the employment centres into career counselling centres,” said the official.

Secretary of Odisha employment, technical education and training department Chandra Sekhar Kumar said: “Efforts will be made to enable the youths to become employees through market linked vocational training programmes and get them jobs through various enterprises.”

Focus will also be given on creating a pool of drivers and other skilled workers through various market-linked vocational training programmes.

“The construction sector in Odisha has recorded a growth rate of more than 11 per cent in the current fiscal. Apart from construction activities taken up by various government departments, potential private employers in this sector are Larsen and Toubro, Tata, Simplex, Punj Lloyd, Nagarjuna and Lanco. Unemployed youths, who have certain skill sets, can benefit from it,” said Kumar.

To assess Odisha’s preparedness to create a pool of skilled manpower, the government today reviewed its employment generation programmes.

Odisha chief secretary directed various state departments to gear up machineries to meet the future manpower requirements of various industries.

Official sources said the demand for skilled jobs was expected to grow from its present level of 76 lakh to about 1.35 crore in 2026.

“There is an increasing demand for skilled workforce,” said another official.

A highly-skilled workforce is required for sectors such as banking, financial and insurance services and IT and IT enabled services. While skilled workforce is required in sectors such as education, healthcare, automobile and manufacturing, semi-skilled workforce is required in the fields of tourism, travel, hospitality and construction.

During the 2012-13 fiscal, the Odisha government has decided to train at least 1.70 lakh people through various skill-development programmes.

As part of this plan, 50,000 people will be trained in the field of construction, 30,000 in textile, 15,000 in driving, 30,000 in manufacturing, 10,000 in health (paramedical), 10,000 in security, 5,000 in hospitality, 5,000 in IT and IT enabled services, 10,000 in retail and 5,000 in mining sectors.

Potential employers in the private sector are Pizza Hut, Papa Jones, Café Coffee Day, Subway, Barista, KFC and various other hotels and multi-national companies. To create skilled manpower, the Odisha government has decided to set up at least 43 polytechnic and Industrial Training Institutes in the state. Most of these institutes would come up in Sambalpur, Malkangiri, Rayagada, Deogarh and Gajapati districts that troubled by Maoist activities.