The inauguration of Centre for Invention, Innovation, Incubation and Training (CIIIT), established at a cost of Rs 181.57 crore at Government Polytechnic College, Baramulla has come as a good news for the youth of Jammu and Kashmir. The move is aimed at providing world-level skill training to the students of engineering colleges, polytechnic colleges and ITIs besides, the unemployed engineering degree/diploma holders and engineering graduates who are employed but in need for career enhancement through up-gradation of latest technological skills. The skill development is key to success as rightly remarked by the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha in the face of fast-changing global economy, the youth of Jammu & Kashmir need relevant training, re-skilling and up-scaling of their existing skills-set. Only with training in recent technological trends can our youth be equipped to secure jobs in this world. Unemployment is one of the biggest challenges that Union Territory of J&K is face to face with. With limited employment avenues being available and most of them in government sector alone, the youth of the UT are finding it increasingly difficult to get jobs domestically. In this backdrop, the initiative would enhance the employability rate amongst the youth, while strengthening industry-academic partnership. The CIIIT Baramulla is offering nine competency centres starting from Innovation, Incubation, Product Life-cycle Management Centre to digital manufacturing centre and these are vital areas to produce design engineers, product engineers who will get ample opportunity in automotive industry, aerospace industry, manufacturing industry, electronics, oil and gas and heavy industry sectors and thus hopefully the youth would find fresh opening all over.
As already mentioned above, the UT’s growing unemployment problem is one of the stumbling blocks in its economic progress. Skill development is what UT lacks in and therefore having such institutions in Kashmir and Jammu would take care of that lacuna and ensure that the youth of the UT besides having degrees under their belts are well equipped, skill-wise to compete with their counter parts in rest of the country. As per reports in Jammu and Kashmir 40 percent youth in 15-30 age-group are jobless. This is a huge chunk and their joblessness is resulting into series of issues. One, the unemployed youth, in absence of jobs, fail to add to the economic growth of Jammu and Kashmir. Two, the joblessness impacts the very mental, emotional and psychological health of the youth and this aspect gives birth to may ills that plague the society. In this back drop, establishment of CIIITs in Kashmir and Jammu divisions is a right step in the right direction. The government needs to have ample funds available for these institutions so that these can contribute in developing different skills among the educated youth so that they are able to get jobs.
