*UP to become a ‘Global Manpower Hub’: State-of-the-art skill centres to come up in Lucknow, Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Jhansi and Gautam Buddha Nagar*
*State divided into 9 specialised employment zones; hub-and-spoke model to provide world-class training to youth in villages and towns*
*Training to be imparted in AI, robotics, data science and foreign languages; centres to be developed under PPP model within 3 years*
*Training, hostels and placement facilities under one roof; new employment opportunities to open up for youth in foreign countries and multinational companies*
*Chief Minister Yogi distributes loan sanction cheques and toolkits to beneficiaries of various schemes; MoUs exchanged with 8 corporate and other institutions*
*Lucknow, October 31*
On the occasion of the 151st birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Iron Man of India and a symbol of national unity and integrity, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday formally launched the ambitious ₹1,725-crore ‘Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Skill Training and Employment Zone Development Scheme’ at the Lok Bhavan auditorium.
The historic initiative aims to transform Uttar Pradesh into a ‘Global Manpower Hub’ and equip its youth with skills aligned with the requirements of global industries. During the programme, the Chief Minister also launched the official portal of the scheme and laid the foundation stones for skill training and employment zone development centres in five key districts in the first phase: Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Kanpur, Jhansi and Gautam Buddha Nagar.
Addressing the gathering, State MSME Minister Bhupendra Chaudhary said, “Under the visionary and dynamic leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the scheme would prove transformative for the youth and industrial development of Uttar Pradesh. All 75 districts of the state have been divided into 9 specialised employment zones, with an effective ‘hub-and-spoke model’ being developed to connect youth from every district, town and remote rural area with mainstream opportunities.
Whether from an arts, commerce, ITI or engineering background, every young person will receive world-class training based on their interests and aptitude. Keeping in view the requirements of the global market, these centres will provide intensive training in advanced technological fields such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics and data science, along with Indian and foreign languages. This will enable the youth of Uttar Pradesh to secure employment opportunities not only within the country but also abroad and in leading multinational companies.
“To ensure speedy implementation of the scheme, the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model will be adopted through the ‘Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer’ (DBFOT) framework. In the first phase, these modern campuses are being developed with the support of the MSME Department, Gorakhpur Industrial Development Authority (GIDA), Greater Noida, Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) and Bundelkhand Industrial Development Authority (BIDA). A multi-tier monitoring committee has been constituted to ensure transparency and timely execution of the project. The master developer has been mandated to complete construction within three years.
Further, to ensure convenient connectivity for trainees, each skill centre will be linked directly to major national and state highways through four-lane roads.Elaborating on the infrastructure and facilities at the skill development centres, the minister said, “The campuses would have state-of-the-art residential hostels, smart classrooms and laboratories, along with in-house placement cells and employment offices. This means that young people will receive training and gain direct access to employment opportunities and appointment letters from companies under one roof. In addition, those aspiring to become entrepreneurs will be provided easy access to financial assistance and toolkits through the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) and the MUDRA scheme.
“At the programme, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath distributed loan sanction cheques and toolkits to beneficiaries of various government schemes. Beneficiaries of the MSME sector, Mukhyamantri Yuva Udyami Vikas Yojana, One District One Product (ODOP) scheme and Vishwakarma Shram Samman Yojana were among those encouraged through the initiative.- Under the MSME Department’s technical upgradation initiative, Aman Agrawal of Krishna Metal Industries Limited, Anjana Dhawan of Shriram Plastic and Kunal Batra of Gomti Healthy Nutrition were each sanctioned loans of ₹5 lakh. Ajit Sahu of RR Agro Industries, Sultanpur, received a loan of ₹20.17 lakh, while Prabhjot Singh of Sirmour Detergent Pvt. Ltd., Bareilly, was sanctioned ₹63 lakh.
– Under the Mukhyamantri Yuva Udyami Vikas Yojana, Neha Kumari of Neha Flower Decoration and Balveer Yadav of Rama Digital Library received assistance of ₹5 lakh each. Vijay Lakshmi Srivastava and Anjali Gupta were sanctioned ₹4 lakh and ₹5 lakh, respectively, for their boutique businesses, while Vasudev Vajpayee received ₹5 lakh for web development and IT services.
– Under the ODOP scheme, Kamlesh Gupta was encouraged for chikankari products, Dilip Kumar of Rae Bareli for woodcraft, and Neelam of Barabanki for textile products.
– Under the Vishwakarma Shram Samman Yojana, toolkits were distributed to Sangeeta and Sudhakar Sharma of Sitapur.In the presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were exchanged between the Uttar Pradesh MSME Department and eight leading corporate and other institutions. The agreements aim to equip the state’s youth with industry-oriented skills and connect them with employment and placement opportunities.
On behalf of the state government, Commissioner and Director K. Vijayendra Pandian exchanged the MoUs with representatives of Tata Indian Institute of Skills, Ashok Leyland, BVG Group, PTC Industries, CIPET, Asian Development Bank, Avaada Group and Minda.Those present on the occasion included V. Ramaswamy, Head of TCS iON and Education Business; Shakti Singh, Vice-President of Ashok Leyland; Jitendra Walia, Chief Growth Officer of BVG Group; Smita Agrawal, Chairperson and Managing Director of PTC Industries; Vivek Kumar of CIPET; Kenji of the Asian Development Bank; Anurag Chokhani of Avaada Group; and Ishita Dhar, State Head (CSR) of Minda.
