AAP Rajya Sabha MP announces plan to open 10 more skill centres in Punjab

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Vikramjit Singh Sahney was speaking to reporters on the completion of one year as a member of the Rajya Sabha.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Vikramjit Singh Sahney on Saturday said he will set up 10 additional skill centres of excellence in Punjab that will create at least 10,000 jobs.

More than 2,000 jobs have already been created after skilling youngsters at the skill development centre, he said.

Sahney was speaking to reporters here on the completion of one year as a member of the Rajya Sabha.

The first skill centre of excellence was set up in Amritsar. Now, another one will be opened shortly in Ludhiana where modern machines will be installed for the skilling of youngsters to make them employable in the industry, he said.

Sahney said his major focus has been on skilling and creating jobs for Punjab's youngsters.

"During this year, we provided 2,000 jobs after skilling the youngsters at our skill development centres. I am also setting up 10 more world-class skill centres of excellence to create 10,000 jobs," he said.

The new centres will come up in Bathinda, Patiala, Mohali, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and other areas with assistance from the state government, he said.

"A committee of industrialists has been set up in each city and it will be linked with the skill centres," Sahney added.

The AAP Rajya Sabha MP said skill centres will also be set up in gurdwaras under the recently launched Sikhya Langar Movement.

The first one will come up in Gurdwara Nanaksar in Ludhiana, he added.

"This movement will go a long way in making unemployed and hapless youngsters become an earning hand for the family," Sahney said and added that he sees a huge scope for centres of religious and spirituality playing a role in social and economic uplift of the masses.

A Sikhya Langar Movement was launched from Amritsar earlier this month to empower youngsters with job skills, Sahney said.

Under the campaign, it has been decided that gurdwaras should have an education fund for needy and poor students, he said.

Sahney also spoke about his efforts to bring back Punjabi women stuck in other countries under a campaign against anti-human trafficking called Mission Hope.

Fifty Punjabi women in Oman, 17 boys in Turkey and another 17 in Libya were rescued under this campaign, he said.

Sahney also plans to open drug de-addiction and rehabilitation centres in Hoshiarpur and other areas.

He said he organised an interactive meeting of all MPs from Punjab, cutting across party lines, to create consensus for resolving issues such as the pending rural development fund.