Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Rural Development and Marketing Society (ORMAS) has intensified efforts to strengthen the implementation of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) 2.0, focusing on industry-oriented skill development and improved employment opportunities for rural youth across the state.
A two-day State-Level Capacity Building Programme on DDU-GKY 2.0 was inaugurated Wednesday by Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Minister Rabi Narayan Naik. Organised by ORMAS under the Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department, the programme seeks to enhance institutional capacity and ensure effective execution of the scheme.
Addressing the gathering, Naik said skill development and employment generation would be crucial to achieving the vision of Viksit Odisha 2036 and Viksit Bharat 2047. Describing youth as the state’s greatest asset, he stressed the need to equip rural candidates with industry-relevant skills and sustainable livelihood opportunities.
He called for focused skilling initiatives for youth from tribal, KBK, Aspirational and western Odisha districts to help them tap emerging employment opportunities across sectors. ORMAS CEO Monica Priyadarshini, in her welcome address, said nearly 2.10 lakh rural youth had been trained and over 1.23 lakh placed in different sectors since the inception of DDU-GKY.
For 2025-2028, Odisha has been assigned a target of training 62,050 rural youth with an approved outlay of nearly `750 crore. As many as 115 projects have already been sanctioned, she said, underlining the need for quality training, timely project execution and improved placement outcomes. The programme will feature technical sessions by experts from the Union Ministry of Rural Development, NIC, NABCONS, NIRDPR and Grant Thornton Bharat LLP.
Discussions will cover scheme guidelines, the Unified IT Platform, project management, trainee mobilisation, placement tracking, financial procedures and monitoring mechanisms.
Representatives of Project Implementing Agencies, technical experts and programme functionaries from across Odisha are participating in the exercise, which is expected to strengthen the scheme’s implementation and improve employment prospects for rural youth.