Bhubaneswar, May 9: The Skill Development Institute, established by the oil ministry on the lines of the National Skill Development Mission of the government of India, here will now offer a special course for women.
The short-term course of three months will offer training in computers to each batch consisting of 30 girl students. It was launched as part of the first foundation day celebrations at the institute today.
Verghese Cherian, chairman and director (HR) of the Skill Development Institute, Bhubaneswar said: "We are hopeful of turning it into a world-class institute very soon. We at SDI aim to harness the potential of youths of Odisha to make them more skilful."
SDI Bhubaneswar aims to have a state-of-the-art skill academy on around 60 acres by 2019. A bigger permanent campus spread over 60 acres is coming up at Jatni.
SDI Bhubaneswar now runs skill-training courses for unemployed and underprivileged youth of Odisha on a temporary campus in Mancheswar Industrial Estate.
The institute offers certificate programmes in welding and electrical to facilitate ready employment and has plans to launch more courses this year.
"With full-fledged infrastructure, the institute will impart skill development training to over 40,000 students in several trades pertaining to the hydrocarbons sector the local industry needs over a period of 10 years, apart from conducting other employment-oriented training programmes beyond the petroleum sector," said Dharmendra Pradhan, minister of petroleum and natural gas, while attending the event.
A national conclave on 'Skill development initiatives in the hydrocarbon sector' was also held on the occasion. Senior officers of the oil industry, academics, consultants and training partners in skills development, senior industry members from various parts of the country as well as the state took part in this national conclave.
A short film on the journey of the Skill Development Institute was screened at the event. A pictorial journey of the institute was unveiled.
Skill Development Institute offers vocational training courses with focus on developing job-oriented skill sets of students. The aim is to bridge the gap between employment opportunities and the skill and knowledge base of the unemployed youth in the country.
The minister also presented tool kits of Rs 50,000 each to two students of the first batch, Khirasagar Swain (industrial welding) and Bharaye Soren (industrial electrical) to begin their entrepreneurship journey after completion of their session this year.
The minister also felicitated Medha Servo as the best recruiter for giving highest employment opportunities to graduated students.
A number of panel discussions were held also during the conclave, in which leading speakers from various sectors took part and discussed the scope of the hydrocarbon sector in skill development.
