Angamaly: An oil industries-focused jobs training facility was inaugurated by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy at the INKEL business park at Angamaly on Sunday. Chandy lauded the efforts by the Labour Department in providing skill sets that would link talented youth with job opportunities.
The Enlighten Skills Programme for Oil and Rig (ESPOIR) Academy has been set up jointly by the Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE) and Eram Group.
He said such programs would help decrease unemployment in the state. Labour Minister Shibu Baby John presided over the function. If Kerala is seen by the central government and other states as the skill capital of India, Angamaly could be Kerala’s prominent centre for skill development, the minister said. He said ESPOIR, which means ‘hope’ in French, could be the first step in this direction. More training centres, including those from Tata, would start in the park, he added.
Jose Thettayil MLA inaugurated the distribution of admission cards to the courses in the academy. Eram Group Centre director Poulose Theppala released the centre’s brochure.
Eram Group chairman and managing director Dr Siddeek Ahmed said the centre has signed an agreement with two oil companies in Saudi Arabia to supply 685 workers.
Angamaly municipal chair M.A. Gracy, KASE managing director R. Rahul, Additional Chief Secretary Tom Jose, UNIC India-Bhutan director Kiran Mehra Kerpelman, UNIC national information officer Rajiv Chandran, Labour Commissioner K Biju, Kozhikode district collector N. PRashanth, Eram Group executive director Elio Maggi, chief executive officer Abdul Razack and Anwar Sadath also spoke on the occasion.
Eram Animation Lab Private Limited has also signed a contract with the United Nations Information Centre for the “Save Mother Earth” campaign as part of the agency’s sustainable development growth programme. Minister Shibu Baby John unveiled a cartoon character for the campaign.
The chairman said the centre’s aim was to ensure jobs to all those who joined its programme. Even expert technicians such as electricians were unable to find employment abroad as they lacked certification. ESPOIR could come to the help of such people by training them to pursue overseas jobs, he added.
The centre will conduct 35 courses in the mechanical, electrical and instrumentation sectors. There will be three-month courses on offer for fabricators, fitters, welders, riggers, scaffolders, industrial electricians, instrumentation fitters, technicians and valve technicians.
The centre will also start courses for supervisors, project engineers, quality inspectors, welding inspectors, painting inspectors, safety officers and work permit receivers in the second stage.