BHUBANESWAR: Country’s first Skill India International Centre was inaugurated by Union Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Dharmendra Pradhan here on Saturday. The centre, set up in collaboration with the NSDC International (NSDCI) on the Skill Development Institute (SDI) campus, is aimed at imparting international standard skill training to the youth and enhancing overseas opportunities for the skilled workforce of the State.
Pradhan said the centre has been set up for high-quality training of Indian youth, especially the aspirants from Odisha aiming to work abroad. It will provide training facilities as per the demands of international employers in countries like UAE, Canada, Australia and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) regions.
The Union Minister also launched the World Skills Academy and National Academy for Skill Teachers here.“The international training centre and two world-class national academies at SDI will augment India’s ambition of developing a workforce that not only meets the demand of the country, but also positions India as a leading provider of workforce to the world,” he said.
Stating that around 25 crore population in India including 75 lakh in Odisha are in the age group of 15 to 25 years, he said the objective of these initiatives is to bring all the youth to the fold of skill development and create new opportunities for them to give them a dignified life.
An MoU was signed between NSDC, CEO, Ved Mani Tiwari and SDI Bhubaneswar CEO Sanjay Srivastava in presence of the Minister and Odisha Skill Development Authority Chairman Subroto Bagchi for operation of the centre and two academies. MoUs were also signed with two UAE companies.
Officials said the centre will also have a wide network of partnering organisations and overseas recruiters to facilitate supply of skilled and certified workforce in other countries. These partnering organisations will work with NSDC and SDI for aggregating demand from overseas markets. The centre will have services such as mobilisation, counselling, skill training, pre-departure orientation, foreign language training, placement and immigration and post-placement support.