Pune Infra Watch: PMC plans more Lighthouse centres after 8,000 youths secure jobs through skill development programme

As per the agreement between the PMC and the PCC, the civic body has to provide necessary infrastructure, including civic premises of 2,500 to 3,000 sq feet area, for setting up the skill development training centre. The PCC runs the programme through corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds from various companies. After the five-year agreement of the PMC with the PCC ended last month, it has now been extended for another five years.

After a good response to its first pilot in Aundh six years ago, the PMC decided to start 15 Lighthouse centres, one each in 15 ward office areas, across the city and has been able to start 11 of them so far. “The merger of 34 more villages in the PMC has increased the civic jurisdiction. Thus, there is a need to increase the number of Lighthouse centres in the city with at least two in each of the 15 ward offices to provide skill development training to more youths including those from the newly included area,” said Vikram Kumar.

“The PMC thinks that the initiative has been successful in providing employment to the youths. It needs to be further extended considering the current unemployment situation,” he added.

Ramdas Chavan, incharge of the social welfare department of the PMC, said that the it has shortlisted places in Dhole-Patil and Wanowrie areas for the project. “The remaining two ward offices Shivajinagar and Sahakarnagar are yet to provide premises for setting up Lighthouse centres in their area,” he said.

Atul Mane, senior Manager of the PCC for the project, said that the Lighthouse initiative is more about generating confidence in the youths of the urban poor community to identify their capabilities and upgrade skills for the best-suited employment for them in the market.

“The PCC begins the training through 80 hours of foundation building. The youths are made to identify their skills, drawbacks in them and ways to improve themselves. It is to make them realise their capacity and then select the profession of their choice. It also includes training in spoken English and digital literacy as these are basics for any profession,” he said.

The PCC conducts career counselling based on the trainees’ interest and sends them for skill development courses. “Some skill development courses, like that for fashion designing, beauty parlour, office administration, are conducted at the centre while those who show interest in other professions are sent to private skill development centres in the city. The PCC has tied up with various skill development centres in the city and incurs the expenditure on fees for the courses through available CSR funds,” he said, adding that the PCC also helps the youth in getting employment by recommending them to the private companies.

As per officials, 19,600 youths have so far joined for a foundation course, and 10,500 for skill development courses. As many as 6,800 of them completed the training while more 8,000 have either been able to land a job in private companies or start their own business based on the acquired skills, Mane said, adding that the Lighthouse initiative has already won a lot of awards at the national level.