The Himachal Pradesh government is striving hard to ensure that the youth of the state become employment providers, instead of job seekers, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said on Friday.

Addressing the Joint Placement Drive programme organized by HP Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission at Bahra University at Waknaghat in Solan district, he said organizing the drive was indeed a commendable step that would provide a platform for getting employment opportunities to the students studying in private and government educational institutions of the state.

He expressed hope that more and more students would get employment according to their qualifications.

Thakur said universities, colleges, ITIs, and polytechnic institutes have been included in this joint placement drive. Through this, hundreds of youth would be selected in about 50 big companies participating in the Drive on a good package, he added.

Thakur stated that in order to promote youth entrepreneurship, the present state government has started the Mukhya Mantri Swavalamban Yojna. He said that the government has started this scheme for the youth of 18 to 45 years of age and women up to 50 years of age who want to start their own business. Under this scheme, loans up to Rs 1 crore were being provided under which 25 to 30 percent subsidy was given to the youth for setting up industries. Now the state government has decided to provide a 35 percent subsidy to women and widows. So far, 3,758 units have been established in Himachal under this scheme and 10,253 people have got employment at their doorsteps.

The Chief Minister said that Himachal has made rapid strides in the field of education and as many as 17 private universities have been established in the state, making it an ‘Education Hub’ of the country.

Thakur thanked the entrepreneurs for participating in this mega event which has provided career opportunities to hundreds of youth of the state.

He also launched the Online Information Management System ‘Disha’ of HP Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission on the occasion and said with the introduction of this system, information related to private universities and institutes, all kinds of information related to staff, courses, facilities, degrees would be available online. This will not only benefit the local people but also the students of the training institutes, he added.