A custom-made mode to make one lakh youths job-ready

The state government is drawing up an ambitious scheme to rope incorporates and other private sector stakeholders to make one lakh youths employable across sectors, putting an end to releasing grants in block in the name of training.

The government is holding talks with tea retailer Chai Point, entrepreneur Naganand Doraswamy, Silicon Valley nonprofit The IndUS Entrepreneurs (TiE) among others to provide “industry-driven” and “market-driven” training for youngsters.

“We are trying to bring method into this madness,” Social Welfare Minister Priyank Kharge, who is anchoring the project, told DH.

“Earlier, we would put money into pockets and they ended up on the footpaths to open their business. Instead of giving money, we are coming up with a scheme in which we will provide training, put up everything and help youths start earning a living.”

According to Kharge, the department’s target of one lakh has been planned in such a way that it trains one in the last available skill. “For example, some woman needs a beautician course. We will hire the best possible person, be it Lakme or YLG, to train her. If she wants to open a beauty parlour, we will give her the money. Similarly, if someone wants to open a provision store, we will provide necessary retail training and help set up shop.”

The new scheme is different in that there will be no mass-production of trained people, he said. “There was no backward linkage. Here, we are asking the industry and the market what they want.”

The new scheme will be sector-agnostic, with Kharge even holding talks with the All India Tennis Association (AITA) to see if it can train persons who are interested in becoming tennis coaches.

Recently, an AITA delegation comprising doubles specialist Rohan Bopanna and Kharge met Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara, who also holds the youth empowerment and sports portfolio.

Roping in private players will not result in significant rise in training cost, Kharge said. “There are firms that have come forward to train youth at Rs 9,000 per head.”

The new scheme cuts right at the heart of a key priority of the state government, which Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has repeatedly stressed is job creation.