Kickstarting a slew of youth oriented initiatives, the Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday digitally laid the foundation stone of permanent camp of C-PYTE at Asal Uttar in district Tarn Taran to commemorate the bravery of Company Quarter Master Havaldar Abdul Hamid PVC and to provide training to the youth of Punjab for selection in Military and Para-military Forces. Besides, the Chief Minister also inaugurated the 7th State level Mega Rozgar Mela with a target to fill 2.5 lakh vacancies across Punjab and launched free online coaching for Government recruitment exams apart from rolling out the 'Mera Kaam Mera Maan' scheme to provide employment assistance allowance Rs. 2500 per month to workers and wards of workers registered under Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW) Welfare Board.Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister emphasized the aspect of technology as pre-requisite for finding a job as per requirements of the industrial sector, hence the free skill training initiative with a view to prepare the youth for job market.The Chief Minister further said that a new Armed Forces Preparatory Institute Sardar Bahadur Amin Chand Soni Armed Forces Preparatory Institute (SBACS-AFPI) is being established at Bajwara, Hoshiarpur at a cost of Rs. 26.96 crores for preparing youth of Punjab to compete and qualify in CDSE/AFCAT.Dwelling on the employment facilitation for youth, the Chief Minister said that the Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training department over the past 4 years has been catering to an average of 1200 candidates every day for facilitating them in job opportunities. Keeping the same in mind, a Job Helpline Centre has been established as One Stop Platform to answer queries regarding Government/private placement opportunities, career counselling, self-employment ventures, foreign study/placement counselling and skill development training, said Captain Amarinder Singh adding Mission RED SKY had been started to facilitate employment opportunities either directly or post skilling to addicts/victims undergoing treatment at OOAT centres of Punjab. Till date, 11,658 unemployed reformed addicts have been identified and 2,203 have begun skill training under Punjab Skill Development Mission (PSDM).Further, for Persons with Disabilities (PwD), the mission administers special training programmes that have trained 430 and placed 90 PwD candidates.Notably, 10 poorest of poor unemployed candidates of each village have been identified and provided employment facilitation.
As a result, 1,11,529 candidates have become self-reliant and 13,720 have been sponsored for skill training.During 1st wave of COVID, the Department of Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training department organized 6th State level Mega Rozgar Mela and Mega Self-Employment Mela through virtual/physical means in all districts of Punjab that facilitated 2,09,124 candidates (91,360 employment and 1,17,764 self- employment, added the Chief Minister.Going down the memory lane, the Chief Minister recalled that September 9, 2021, marks the 56-year anniversary of Battle of Asal Uttar, one of the largest tank battles fought during Indo-Pak War of 1965 which resulted in victory due to fierce battle put up by Indian Army, their outstanding valour and better strategy. The battle also witnessed the personal bravery of Company Quarter Master Havaldar Abdul Hamid, 4th Grenadiers, who was honoured posthumously with the Param Vir Chakra for knocking out several enemy tanks with a recoilless gun, reminisced the Chief Minister.In his address, the Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training Minister Charanjit Singh Channi while thanking the Chief Minister said that the C-PYTE centre would come up in 8.5 acres of land at a cost of Rs. 5 crore in the first phase. He also apprised that the free online coaching of the first batch of 11000 Government job aspirants would start today besides the job fairs which would be held across the State till 17th September at 84 place all across Punjab. Under its Ghar Ghar Rozgar Initiative the State Government has set up 22 state of the art District Bureaus of Employment and Enterprises (DBEEs), said Channi.In her address, the Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan said that the promise of the State Government to ensure ‘Ghar Ghar Rozgar’ to the youth has been implemented theoretically as well as practically, in line with their aptitude and skills.On the occasion, three beneficiaries viz. Sehajpal Singh from Village Theh Kanjli in Kapurthala District (C-PYTE training), Mehakdeep Singh from Village Sahauli in Patiala District (Mera Kaam Mera Maan) and Komalpreet Kaur from Tarn Taran (Free online coaching) expressed gratitude to the Chief Minister.MLA Khemkaran Sukhpal Singh Bhullar while proposing vote of thanks expressed gratitude to the Chief Minister for bestowing a gift to the border areas in the form of C-PYTE centre.Among others who joined virtually on the occasion included Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu, Ex-Minister Gurchet Singh Bhullar, Principal Secretary Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training Rahul Tewari, Director Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training Harpreet Singh Sudan.