GAIL to roll out training programmes for unskilled workers in Odisha

Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan on April 28 will launch the Urja Ganga Gas Pipeline Skilling Project to impart formal certification and training to semi-skilled and unskilled workers engaged in the Jagdishpur – Haldia and Bokaro – Dhamra natural gas pipeline (JHBDPL) projects being laid in the state.

GAIL, India’s premier natural gas company which is implementing the 2,655 Km long JHBDPL project, has entered into a quadripartite pact with National Skill Development Corporation, Skill Development Institute – Bhubaneswar and Labor Net, Bengaluru for skill development activities and recognition of prior learning for generating employment in the various aspects of the pipeline project, widely known as Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga .

Pradhan will also launch a Pipe Fitter-City Gas Distribution (CGD) course which will commence at the Skill Development Institute in Bhubaneswar.

He will also inaugurate the Skill-cum-Common Facility Centre for Filigree Craftsman at Cuttack. NSDC and Gems and Jewellery Skill Council of India, in association with EduJobs Academy, are setting up the state of the art training facility specifically for filigree artisans and goldsmiths to transform the folk art form of gems and jewellery.

“RPL will recognise the prior experience of workers and they will get formal certificates which will help boost their income. Safety training will also be an integral part of their training and around 1,400 people will be covered initially”, GAIL Director (Projects) Ashutosh Karnataka said.

Later, more people will be trained as the pipeline work progresses, he added.

The projects are being launched on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Madhusudan Das, who laid the foundation of industrialization in Odisha.