Karnataka launches yuva.com

BANGALORE: Under a government initiative to promote IT in semi-urban and

rural areas, Karnataka Chief Minister SM Krishna has inaugurated yuva.com. The

initiative involves setting up IT training centers in each of the 225 assembly

constituencies over the next 12 months in Karnataka. These centers will train

about one lakh educated unemployed youth in IT related services. For this

purpose, the state has tied up with reputed IT training houses like NIIT, Aptech

and SSI for setting up and running these centers.

Speaking about this initiative, Krishna said, "This policy seeks to

establish 225 training centers all over the state, primarily for the purpose of

training unemployed, educated youth in various IT skills. The government will

encourage private sector initiatives in setting up such centers. These centers

would receive appropriate concessions from the government. The trainees under

yuva.com are charged a special fee, which is less than the normal fee charged by

Aptech, NIIT and SSI as it is subsidized by the government. The first yuva.com

center will be launched on July 29, 2000, in Mandya. A few more centers at Bidar,

Belgaum, Chitradurga, Hubli, Dharwad and Bhatkal will also be launched in the

next 10 days."

Commenting on the initiative, NIIT chief Rajendra Pawar said, "This is

the first initiative in India to educate people on IT. Through this, the

government has taken IT to the masses. We are offering all the regular courses

that we normally extend in any other city. We are also giving a concession on

fees. We will offer courses like desktop publishing and accounting so that

students can start their own ventures on completion of the course. For regular

employment with companies, the candidates may need to do additional course work.

Placement assistance is available at each center."

According to the government, the preferred candidates for yuva.com include

women, candidates from rural areas and those with an annual income of below Rs

24,000. Keonics will provide the necessary infrastructure for the training

centers in each location. The Karnataka government will be investing Rs 45 crore

in this project over the next years.