Kaushalkar became a “Superhit”, 3.22 lakh youth enrolled in just 10 days to get skill training

Bengaluru : The employment-cum-skill development training programme introduced recently by the government has received an overwhelming response; within 10 days after the launch of the web portal and skill app Kaushalkar, 3.22 lakh youths got enrolled.

“Though chief minister Siddaramaiah had opened the platform about a fortnight ago, it was made available for 10 working days. This kind of response is unexpected,” said Sanjiv Kumar, additional chief secretary of the newly formed department of skill development, entrepreneurship and livelihood.

The highest enrollment has been recorded from account executives. Of the 3 lakh trainees, 1.55 lakh account executives have registered for training in different job roles followed by air conditioner specialists (54,049), delivery associates (47,844), accessory fitters (47,544), ambulance drivers (20,020) and CCTV supervisors (18,473). From districts, the highest applications came from Belagavi, Koppal and Gadag in north Karnataka region.

Karnataka Vocational Training and Skill Development Corporation chairman Muralidhar Halappa said Gujarat and Rajasthan governments had shown interest in the web portal and the app, and wanted to implement it in their states.

According to officials, on an average, 150 registrations were received every day. The government aims to create at least 5 lakh jobs this financial year. “We will ensure people get market-oriented skills, especially those required in the industrial and manufacturing sectors. We are providing placement/training to 25,000 youths who have registered with us,” Kumar said.

Based on Karnataka’s 6.5-crore population, experts said the unemployment percentage is expected to go up from 30 % in 2011 to 45% by 2020. “With farming becoming less rewarding, a large number of workers are switching to non-agricultural activities every year. Apart from a small share of low-paid agency jobs, education and skills will play a big role in determining employability,” said S V Prabhu, a job market specialist. The portal and app were launched on May 15 to allow registration of people in the 18 to 35 age group.

Note: News shared for public awareness with reference from the information provided at online news portals.