Faced with the acute shortage of skilled manpower in the state, required by the industry, Assam government has decided to provide vocational and skill training to at least 2 lakh youths by the end of 12th five year plan.
The state government has decided to set up a vocational training centres in each development block of the state. This year at least four such training centres, one each in Tinsukia, Karimganj, Dhubri and Nagaon districts, will be set up, said Assam’s industry minister Pradyut Bordoloi. He said another 23 such centres will be set up in rest of the development blocks in the next fiscal.
“Presently we are facing huge shortage of skilled manpower in the state. We are now sending youths from the state of National Academy of Construction in Hyderabad to impart vocational training so as to meet the current industry demand. Setting up of new training centres in each development block will help us create a strong skilled workforce,” said Bordoloi.
He added that his department was undertaking a survey to indentify which skills and vocations were most in demand for the youths to increase the employability of the trained youths.
Around 1,600 youths would be trained at NAC, Hyderabad, this year, said the minister. The upcoming Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Ltd (BCPL) in Dibrugarh district in Upper Assam, also known Assam Gas Cracker Project, is presently facing shortage skilled manpower, resulting in delays in commissioning. BCPL too had earlier announced to send local youths to NAC, Hyderabad, to meet its skilled manpower demand.
BCPL is also in touch with Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (ILFS) for setting up two skill development centres in Upper Assam, one each in Dibrugarh and Jorhat.
The demand for skilled manpower in the state is expected to further rise as host of downstream industries are expected to come up once the Gas Cracker Project is commissioned.
The state government is coming up with a Rs. 1,000 crore plastic park in Tinsukia in Upper Assam, conceptualised with the hope to reap benefits from the Gas Cracker Project by attracting downstream plastic based industries in the state.
The plastic park would house at least 400 downstream plastic based industries and polymers produced in BCPL will be raw material for the plastic based units in the park.
