State minister Indranil Sen yesterday inaugurated advanced skill training centres at the Alo Hub building in Chandannagar.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had conceptualised and announced the Alo Hub project on 1 June, 2017, and inaugurated the building on 8 February, 2021 with the objective of promoting skill development and the decorative lighting production business of Chandannagar’s traditional lighting industry.
The technical education, training & skill development department funded Rs 14.64 crore for the construction of the building, covering an area of around 4,800 square metres. The top floor, measuring approximately 1,650 square metres, is being utilised by the department to set up advanced skill training centres for various employment-linked training programmes aimed at benefiting local youth. A short-term skill training course on Assistant Electrician (Distribution) is already being conducted at the centre.
This evening, several new skill training programmes were launched by the minister to enhance the employability of local youth through advanced skill development. Addressing the gathering, the minister said there is significant scope for young people to become self-reliant if they avail themselves of modern and advanced short-term certificate courses introduced at the Alo Hub building in Chandannagar.
The minister launched three advanced, certificate-based skill training courses: House Wiring Technician Training; advanced skill training in decorative lighting and illumination in collaboration with a few corporate houses.
The house wiring technician training is a new short-term course of seven days’ duration introduced to recognise the skills of household electricians across the state who lack formal training and certification. Through this programme, participants will receive formal training within the government ITI ecosystem and obtain government certification. The state government will bear the entire cost of training. With this certificate, trainees will be eligible to obtain an electrical workman permit from the power department, which is expected to improve wages and open up employment opportunities in the organised sector.
In addition, a state-of-the-art Advanced Skill Training Centre for the hospitality sector has been set up across 3,600 square feet within the building. Around 200 trainees will receive hospitality training over a four-month period, comprising 10 weeks of classroom instruction followed by six weeks of on-the-job training at hotels. The training will be delivered by expert faculty from the Tata Group of hotels. Upon completion, successful trainees will receive employment assistance in leading hotels across the country. The entire training programme, including placement support, will be provided free of cost.