Bhubaneswar, April 19: Identifying the right trade for the right candidate has emerged as the greatest challenge for training providers under the Odisha State Employment Mission.

"It is important that the trainers link the candidates with the right trade. There is no point if someone who is not articulate is trained in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) or marketing. The candidate will fail to perform," said director of Employment Mission, G. Rajesh.

Speaking on the sidelines of a review meeting chaired by Secretary L.N. Gupta, he said all the training providers had been directed to change their laid-back attitude and devote more time to proper counselling of the students.

The department has terminated the MoUs of nine training agencies because of poor performance both on training and placement fronts.

The employment mission conducts a special technical training programme titled Placement-Linked Training Programme for unskilled undergraduates and dropouts in a range of skills. At the end of the training, the candidates are assured jobs. The programme is implemented by training agencies who conduct the training and are responsible for their subsequent placement.

The trainings are being conducted in 39 trades covering 18 sectors.

Today's review meeting was attended by representatives of more than 100 training agencies where discussions were held on issues and challenges related to the programme. It was launched in 2011 in public private partnership mode and 53,792 youth have already been trained between 2011 and 2016. The candidates are being trained in information and communication technology, construction, electrical, hospitality, production and manufacturing.

Although 159 training centres are being operated by the training agencies in 28 districts, most of these are situated in accessible areas. The authorities today directed the training providers to concentrate on interior pockets and inaccessible areas of the state so that more needy candidates can take the opportunity and get trained.

"Each training provider has been given a minimum target of imparting skills to 2,000 youth in 2016-17 so that they can move out of their comfort zones and get candidates from underdeveloped pockets," said the director.

Besides the shortage of quality trainers and required infrastructure, the discussions focused on the need for new machinery by the training agencies.

"Many training centres continue training with outdated machines. We have asked them to get the latest machines in the market so that the candidates pass out industry-ready," said Rajesh.

As many as 385 batches of students have already been trained in various skills under the programme, of which 285 batches have been issued National Council for Vocational Training certificates.