Punjab Governor launches youth facilitation centre in Ludhiana

Ludhiana, Aug 30 (IANS) Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria on Sunday launched the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Youth Facilitation Centre at the Punjab Youth Town Hall — GenZ Connect here.

The event brought together over 2,000 young people for three panel discussions on careers, employable skills and entrepreneurship, followed by an open question-and-answer session with Governor Kataria and Dr Vikramjit Singh Sahney, Member of Parliament and Chairman of Sun Foundation.

At the event, the participants also heard Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Mann ki Baat’ programme. Dr Sahney informed that the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Youth Facilitation Centre will offer 10 youth services under one roof, including career counselling and skill mapping, AI and future-skills training, placement support, startup incubation, access to loans and government schemes, wellbeing counselling and a public impact dashboard.

Addressing the gathering, the Governor said: “I deeply appreciate the way Dr Vikramjit Singh Sahney is connecting with Gen Z and taking the Prime Minister’s message directly to our youth by empowering them by skilling and providing them jobs.”

Dr Sahney said the Sun Foundation runs a network of skill centres across Punjab, through which 6,560 youth have been trained, 5,426 placed in jobs and 410 supported toward self-employment. He further informed that the foundation has adopted 12 drug de-addiction and rehabilitation centres in Punjab, providing skill training to 500 recovering patients every year, with over 1,000 placed in jobs and 250 moving into self-employment.

The sessions at the events provided participants with valuable perspectives on the changing employment landscape, the importance of acquiring industry-relevant skills and the growing opportunities available through entrepreneurship and start-ups. The discussions also highlighted the need for young people to continuously upgrade their skills in response to rapidly changing technologies and workplace requirements.

Speakers encouraged participants to identify their strengths, explore new career pathways and develop an entrepreneurial mindset.

–IANS

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