As stated by Sri Pritiranjan Gharai, Minister of Skill Development and Technical Education, “The Skill Development and Technical Education Department is entrusted with the commission of nurturing and strengthening the human resource potential of the State through provision of quality, affordable and accessible technical & vocational education and skill development programmes for all sections of the society.
Speaking to the media today at the Geeta Govinda Sadan, Minister Sri Gharai said that the government of Odisha’s flagship programme, the Skill Development Program, has grown into a sustainable technical and vocational educational eco-system with the overarching goal of fostering transformative human development through the skilling of youth and creating the “Skilled-in-Odisha” household brand.
The main Directorates/organizations operating under this Department are the Directorate of Technical Education and Training, Directorate of Employment, Odisha Skill Development Authority, and State Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training.
There are four government engineering colleges, two government management colleges, and three government technical universities operating in the state: Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT), Rourkela; Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT), Burla; and Odisha University of Technology and Research (OUTR), Bhubaneswar.
Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology, Sarang, Dhenkanal, Parala Maharaja Engineering College, Berhampur, Government College of Engineering, Keonjhar, and Government College of Engineering, Kalahandi are the four government engineering colleges. College of IT & Management Education in Bhubaneswar and Institute of Management and Information Technology in Cuttack are the two government management colleges. This Department also oversees the operation of the Biju Pattanaik Film & Television Institute of Odisha in Cuttack.
In addition, there are 60 Government ITIs and 34 Government Polytechnics operating in various State districts.
The SD&TE Department, through DTE&T and the Odisha Skill Development Authority, the Panchayati Raj Department, the ST&SC Development Department, the Tourism Department, the Departments of Agriculture, Handloom & Textiles, Commerce & Transport, Fisheries & ARD, Electronics & Information Technology Department, and MSME Department are among the 10 major Departments / Government Agencies involved in skill development activities.
16,17,101 adolescents in all have received training under the Skilled in Odisha banner. The State Government’s “Skilled-in-Odisha” campaign’s logo was released in 2018 with the goal of setting a global standard of excellence in skill-training. At that time, the SDTE Department has made it its purpose to change the emphasis from “Skilled” to “Skilled-in-Odisha” and to build the aspirational perception of a brand that the best talented individuals come from our State.
The World Skill Center (WSC), which has cutting-edge infrastructure, has been established as the top skill training institution of the Government of Odisha to provide top-notch industry-focused training to the State’s youth in order to up-skill them and make them employable for jobs at the national and international level.
At least one Government Polytechnic is present in each District. There are now 60 Government ITIs in the State as of the Financial Year 2022–2023, with the opening of 11 additional Government ITIs. In the next Financial Year, an additional 09 Govt. ITIs would become active.
The quality of education in ITIs and Polytechnics has improved because to Centers of Excellence, Micro Tool Rooms, Digital Contents, Life Skill Training, etc. To foster competition among them, the Quality Council of India grades polytechnics. Students are exposed to industry standards through partnerships with reputable organisations.
With a total investment of Rs. 1500 Crore, Odisha University of Technology and Research (previously CET) will be transformed into an elite university over the course of the next five years as part of the government’s 5T programme. Also, VSSUT, Burla will receive a facelift with amenities including cutting-edge laboratories, computer centres, and smart classrooms with a budget of Rs. 2000 crore over the course of the next five years.
Budget 2023–24 allocates Rs. 241 crore towards the construction of Government Technical Universities, Engineering Colleges, Polytechnics, and ITIs on the infrastructure front.
Through the Nano Unicorn Program, young and aspiring entrepreneurs are offered an interest-free loan for one year in the amount of one lakh. Throughout the last five years more than 500 number of entrepreneurs have been benefited from the aforesaid programme.
SDTE Department is conducting Placement Linked Training Programme (PLTP) from 2011-12 through OSDA in cooperation with recognised training partners for providing skill training in several demand driven sectors. The program’s goal is to help unemployed kids find jobs, get counselling, training, and placement through skill upgrades that will improve their employability. According to Minister Sri Gharai, 1,12,694 adolescents have received training under the PLTP in the State since 2011–12, and 30038 of them have been put in different organisations.
According to Smt. Usha Padhee, Principal Secretary, SDTE, Aswatha Narayana Sanagavarapu of Odisha won the first-ever gold medal for India at the 2019 World Skills Competition, which was held in Kazan, Russia. The Odisha team won the most medals in the India Skill Competition, which was finished in January 2022 in New Delhi (10 Gold, 18 Silver, 10 Bronze, and 13 Medallions of Excellence). In the World Skills Competition 2022 held at different areas of Europe, Odisha received one Silver Medal in Water Technologies and one Medallion of Excellence in Restaurant Services in the event.
According to the most recent data (from February 2023) from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), Odisha’s unemployment rate (1.5%) is significantly lower than the national average (7.5%), and the state does better than most of the States overall. Due to the coordinated efforts of numerous government agencies, businesses, nonprofit organisations, and other stakeholders, this is now achievable.
The Sudakhya programme has been implemented at the state’s government ITIs. Under the scheme, girl students, irrespective of category, are provided scholarships so that their study in ITI courses is free of cost. The scheme also covers hostel expenditures for female students. Girls who pursue apprenticeships after completing ITI courses are eligible for a Rs1000 bonus on top of the prescribed stipend under the National Apprenticeship Promotion Plan. Any lady who graduates from a government ITI and takes up employment outside the state is paid Rs5000 as a one-time maintenance payment to offset the cost of migration. Girls’ enrollment in government ITIs has climbed from 6% in 2016-17 to 22% in 2022-23 since the scheme’s inception.
Any lady who graduates from a government ITI and takes up employment outside the state is paid Rs5000 as a one-time maintenance payment to offset the cost of migration. Girls’ enrollment in government ITIs has climbed from 6% in 2016-17 to 22% in 2022-23 since the scheme’s inception. This year, considerable counselling is taking place, and we hope to see a rise in the number of girls enrolled. The Plan will be extended to Government Polytechnics in the budget for 2023-24.
NUA ODISHA (Nutana Unnata Abhilasha, Odisha) is the government’s new scheme for preparing youngsters to meet new era rising technology. This strategy will offer adolescents with new technologies such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality, data science, 3D printing, and so on. This training will be delivered to around 1 lakh youths. This will go a long way towards preparing young people for jobs of the future.
The SD&TE Deptt has just introduced the “GREEN PASSAGE” scheme, which will be implemented beginning in Fiscal Year 2023-24. The scheme’s goal is to assist orphans pursue training in government ITIs and studying in government polytechnics. Tuition, application cost, hostel seat rent, library expenses, and examination fee for orphan students enrolled to government ITIs and polytechnics would be waived under this scheme. A monthly maintenance stipend of Rs.2,000/- will be granted to hosteller students and Rs.1,000/- to Days’ Scholars students in addition to this.
Our ITI and Diploma Passout students have been placed in companies such as Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, ITC, Suzuki Motors, Ashok Leyland, and others.
All 214 graduating students from the Global Skill Centre, Bhubaneswar were placed in various respected firms, including 56 foreign placements.
Indramani Tripathy, Director, I&PR Department, and Gurbir Singh, Joint Director, I&PR, coordinated the press conference, which was attended by senior officials from the SDTE Department and media reporters.
Prasanta Patnaik 
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