The State government’s Youth Skill Training programme has created new excitement, with a large number of young people benefiting from it, instances that have been cited show. Implemented by Magalir Thittam, it provides unemployed youth skill development programmes with the assurance of a job.

P. Manthirasalam, Project Officer, Magalir Thittam, says that youth, including Sri Lankan refugees, are provided three-month-long, job-assured training. The State government pays Rs. 1,000 per trainee as stipend.

The trainers are paid Rs. 6,500 for each candidate, but only after the youth secure jobs. “It is meant to ensure that the training really helps the candidates get jobs,” the Project Officer explains.

In 2007-08, some 1,200 candidates, including women, underwent training. Of this number, 58 are Sri Lankan Tamil refugees. The training is at Diesel Machine Works’ Training School on Perundurai Road. Two striking instances have been cited. After completing his degree in English literature, T. Christopher Kamal went job-hunting. “Having searched unsuccessfully since 2005, I turned to painting jobs as my father is a painter,” he said.

The 25-something faced the disadvantage of being a Sri Lankan Tamil refugee. “Though I knocked on the doors of almost all the knitwear companies in Tirupur, none offered a job because of the refugee status.” No different was the fate of his fellow camp-mate S. Dinesh Priyan, with a Plus Two education. He also had to turn to painting jobs. Today, both work in companies in Coimbatore, where they are skilled labourers working on computer numerically controlled (CNC) lathe machines.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/05/11/stories/2008051150190100.htm