Bhubaneswar: For the second year in a row, the Odisha government has bagged the prestigious Prime Minister’s Award for being the ‘Best State in Skill Development’. Successful implementation of the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana, under which a record 96,000 youths were trained, won the state the honour.
The award will be presented to the state at an event in New Delhi May 5.
This apart, the creation of a sustainable income source for 70,000 youths and an achievement by the state agency, the Odisha rural development and marketing society (ORMAS), covering one-fifth of the national skilling target, have been cited as major gains.
Expressing his happiness, chief minister Naveen Patnaik said in a Facebook post, “We are proud that Odisha has successfully trained and ensured employment for a record 96,000 rural youths under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana. Our Odisha Rural Development and Marketing Society with its out-of-the-box initiatives for ‘Quality with Quantity’ accounts for one-fifth of the national target.”
Noting that his government has set a target of skilling one lakh youths in the next two years, the chief minister said many reputed national and multinational companies preferred skilled youths from Odisha. “More heartening is the fact that other states are studying the Odisha model to replicate it for skilling their youths,” he added.