Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister for Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship laid the foundation stone for National Skill Training Institutes (NSTI) Plus today to elevate the capabilities of Odisha’s young cadre. 

NSTI Plus, under the Directorate General of Training (DGT), apex organization of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) will train 500 instructors in Phase-1under the Craftsmen Instructor Training Scheme (CITS) and will further incorporate another 500 instructors for upskilling and re-skilling.

Pritiranjan Gharai, Minister of State, Department of Rural Development, Skill Development & Technical Education; Aparajita Sarangi, MP, Bhubaneswar; Muzibulla Khan, MP, Rajya Sabha; Suresh Kumar Routray, MLA, Odisha; T G Sitharam, Hon’ble Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE); Shri Atul Kumar Tiwari, Secretary, MSDE; and Trishaljit Sethi, Director General, DGT graced the event.

Speaking on the occasion, Pradhan said, “I am delighted to lay the foundation stone for National Skill Training Institute at Jatni, Bhubaneswar under the NSTI Plus Initiative. Every effort of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a step towards empowering India’s YuvaShakti and realising the vision of a developed India by 2047. Furthermore, NSTI will emerge as a modern gurukul to equip candidates as well as trainers with industry and future-ready skills. I am confident that the upcoming state-of-the-art integrated campus of NSTI will empower the youth of New India by providing them with cutting-edge skills and knowledge required to excel in the 21st century, encourage entrepreneurship, equip master trainers with expertise aligned with current and future industry demands and help realize the vision of Viksit Bharat”.

Currently, there are 524 ITIs in the region with seating capacity of 1,04,134, and institutions with flexible learning models like NSTI Plus will advance the vocational training framework to be more accessible, inclusive and innovate in its embodiment.