'36K candidates got jobs in past 6 months through multiple fairs, camps'

KOLKATA: Paschim Banga Society for Skill Development (PBSSD) has managed to provide jobs to almost 36,000 candidates in the past six months through multiple job fairs and camps.

On Friday, during a programme, state minister for Technical Education and Skill Development department Humayun Kabir handed over a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to the representatives of a few private institutes which was signed between the state department and the institutions for the students to take part in skill development courses. Kabir further informed that in the past six months, the department has arranged jobs in several private companies through four job fairs that took place in Durgapur, Kolkata, Malda and Murshidabad along with five camps. Among the 36,000, about 8,995 people were recruited from the job fairs while more than 27,000 got job opportunities from the camps in a private construction company. Kabir said: "Two more job fairs will be taking place soon — one in Siliguri and another in Kharagpur."

The minister also informed that during the Mamata Banerjee-led government, the number of blocks under ITI coverage increased significantly. Till June 2011, there were only 39 blocks out of 341. At present, the number of blocks under ITI coverage has increased to 156. Till June 2011, there were only 80 ITIs functional, including 52 owned by the state and 28 private.

At present, the total number of functional ITIs is 278. The intake capacity has been increased to 87460 at present which was 17636 before the Mamata Banerjee government took over.

Purnendu Bose, chairman of the West Bengal State Council of Technical and Vocational Education and Skill Development, was also present during the programme.