Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today gave in principle approval to Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for setting up of Gurukul, as a skill training pilot project, in district Nawanshahar to train poor unemployed educated or dropouts from rural schools as well as ensuring their proper placement in the local industry. A decision to this effect was taken by Badal during a meeting with the representatives of CII and top brass of the state government. Taking part in deliberations, Badal emphasized the need to train our unemployed rural youth through special skill development centers with focus of their cent percent placement in the Industrial sector. The Chief Minister assured the CII of fulsome support and cooperation of the state government to establish this new venture and asked the Deputy Commissioner Nawanshahar to identify a suitable site or some vacant building to initiate CII-Gurukul project. Badal also asked the CII to finalize their plan at the earliest and assured them for the extension of this scheme as a joint venture between state and CII in other districts after its success in Nawanshahar.Explaining the concept and scope of Gurukulus, the CII team members Shahnawaz Ali and Mrs. Kamna Raj Aggarwalla jointly informed the Chief Minister that as many as 300 rural youth would be trained in a year in this Gurukul through imparting 30 to 45 days intensive semi-skilled certified training which would be subsequently extended to six months as an advanced training course after ensuring their placements in the Industry and on the need based demand of their employer. Shahnawaz Ali further informed that CII had already contacted the Industry in the state to workout its requirement of skilled workers in different trades and designed training courses to cater the local industry in a productive manner. Besides imparting skill training, these Gurukuls would also inculcate discipline, social & patriotic values amongst the trainees. He also informed that Industrial sector had given tremendous response to these Gurukuls, at present functional as joint ventures between State Governments and CII in the states like Tamilnadu, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Jharkhand. Expressing concern over the lack of proper linkage between demand of Industrial sector and supply of skilled force by technical institutions in the state, Badal asked the Punjab Technical Education Department to keep continues liaison with Industry to ensure maximum placements of ITI diploma holders. He further asked the department to evolve a system for accessing the performance of a particular government ITI on the basis of placements of its students.Prominent amongst those who attended the meeting included Chief Secretary Rakesh Singh, Principal Secretary Industry AR Talwar, Principal Secretary Technical Education SS Channy, Principal Secretary Rural Development Mandeep Singh Sandhu, Special Principal Secretaries to the Chief Minister KJS Cheema and Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, Director Technical Education B Purushartha, Deputy Commissioner Nawanshahar Mrs. Tanu Kashyap and CII Head Punjab State Sumanpreet Singh.