From Jan,Bundelkhand youths to train for jobs

The state Rural Development department — through its District Rural Development Authorities (DRDA) — will soon begin the training programme. Its main focus is on youths hailing from BPL and Dalit families.

After providing them vocational training,the DRDAs will divide the youths into groups and help them get monetary support through the Centre’s Swarnjayanti Grameen Swarozgar Yojna (SGSY). The scheme to provide employment to 10,000 youths from Bundelkhand was announced by Chief Minister Mayawati in February,with the Rural Development Minister Daddu Prasad being made the project in-charge.

G B Gautam,Project Director of DRDA,Jhansi,said: “We were asked to give names of 10,000 youths from the region’s seven districts — Lalitpur,Jhansi,Mahoba,Hamirpur,Jalaun,Banda and Chitrakoot. We advertised in local newspapers,asking young people hailing from BPL families to apply and got around 25,000 applications. We shortlisted 200 from Jhansi district for the first batch.” The batch will begin training in the first week of January. The youths will be trained to become an electrician,motorpump mechanic,security guard,taught masonary,mobile repairing and basic photography and videography.

“Two NGOs from New Delhi will send in experts to train these youths in different vocations. But in case of basic photography and videography,we are tying up with the district polytechnic for a four-week course,” said Gautam.

“The NGOs have been certified by the Centre to provide vocational training. These have tied up with some establishments to provide jobs to those who will be trained as security guards. For the rest,we will form groups of 10 each and provide loans through SGSY. The loan will be cleared within a month of the completion of training and

issuance of the certificate,” said Gautam.

He added: “Youths can avail a loan up to Rs 2.5 lakh to open a shop or buying equipment. The idea is to make them self-employed. Those who train in videography and photography can be hired for photography of MGNREGS sites and tasks.”