Considering the limited opportunities and lack of exposure to the local youth, the Fair presented a great opportunity to the ‘not so privileged ‘youth of the Kangra district, added Mr Gupta.

Further sharing the outcome of the Fair, Mr Gupta added, “Despite the good turnout, participating industries could shortlist and select 1600 against the available vacancies of 2200. This shortfall was a result of less number of skilled turners, fitters and machinists available in Kangra region.”

The intent behind organizing the fair was not only to provide a platform to local youth but also to understand the ‘disconnect’ between the industry requirements and the available manpower and work out a long term strategy to bridge the gap for skilled workforce, Mr Gupta further informed.

Further detailing the road map, Mr Gupta said that CII has been continuously working towards bridging the skill gap. Learning from the experience of Mandi Job Fair, a dire need to enhance the employability of the local youth was felt and as a long term strategy, CII has already launched a soft skills training programme reaching out to 3000 college students in Mandi Division.

On the same lines, to bridge the shortfall of recruitment against the available vacancies at the Kangra Job Fair, CII Himachal Pradesh State has chalked out a multi pronged strategy.  As a first step, feedback from the participating companies would be immediately collated, based on their response, action plan will be worked out.

The Institute Management Committees (IMC) set up in the 7 ITIs adopted by CII member companies under PPP mode will be consulted since the primary objective of the IMCs is to address the internal and external inefficiencies present in the ITIs by establishing the industry-institute linkage. It would be a constant endeavour of CII Himachal Pradesh State Council to align the curricula in ITIs in tandem with the Industry requirements.