Himachal Pradesh upgrading skills of youth

The Himachal Pradesh government said on Sunday it is working towards making the state a skill hub and providing youth training as per the modern-day demand of industries.

Skill development is being promoted in the state through new initiatives, keeping modern-day requirements in focus, with the aim of promoting employment, self-employment and entrepreneurship.

Courses like artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science courses have been commissioned in various government-run educational institutions. Artificial intelligence and data science have been introduced under computer science and engineering at Government Hydro Engineering College, Bandla.

Diploma courses like computer engineering have been started at the Government Polytechnic Institute, Rohru, and mechatronics diploma courses at Government Millennium Polytechnic in Chamba, it said.

With the introduction of new-age cutting-edge courses, avenues of employment and self-employment are opening up for the youth of the state. Through this, the government aims to make youth not just job seekers but also job providers by establishing new dimensions in skill development and technical education.

Along with knowledge, quality training also plays an important role in the field of new technology. To ensure the same, 38 students of government polytechnic institutes and 20 instructors of government engineering colleges and polytechnic institutes have been provided with robotic training at IIT Mandi.

The state government is also making efforts to provide opportunities to the youth in the field of semiconductors. In this direction, 20 instructors of government engineering colleges have been given training in the semiconductor ecosystem at the prestigious IIT Ropar and IIT Delhi.

It is working towards establishing a semiconductor industry in the state. The objective of this initiative is to create adequate employment opportunities for the youth and promote the development of technology in the state.

A total of 10 faculty members and six students of polytechnic and engineering were provided training related to machine learning at the Indian Institute of Information Technology Una.

Drone technology plays an important role in disaster response management. Considering Himachal Pradesh's vulnerability to natural disasters, the government is also working towards providing advanced training in drone technology to the youth, which could prove to be of immense aid at the time of disasters.

Drone training is being provided to the youth in 11 government Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) of the state. In these ITIs, 128 youths are presently being given advanced training, highlighting efforts of the government to establish Himachal as an IT hub.

Extensive reforms were being made to provide quality vocational training to the students. At present, 363 technical education and industrial education institutes are functioning in the state. Job fairs and campus interviews were being organised regularly across the state to provide better placement opportunities to the youth.

The state government, in its two years, has provided employment to over 5,730 trainees of government engineering colleges, government pharmacy colleges, polytechnic and industrial training institutes through various campus interviews.

Information Technology is a field of vast possibilities. The state government was providing employment and self-employment opportunities to the youth by imparting knowledge of IT through innovative initiatives ushering in a new era of IT in Himachal.