The coal town’s civic guardian has teamed up with Dhanbad railway division to turn old and abandoned buildings into skill training centres and manufacturing units.
Following talks with DRM Anil Kumar Mishra on January 6, mayor Chandrashekhar Agarwal has begun the process of identifying three such buildings in Kusunda, Katras and Dhanbad.
“No training is complete unless we can generate employment. So, we have decided to not only hone skills of women and unemployed youths under the National Urban Livelihood Mission, but also establish production units where they can be absorbed. We have sought the help of the railway authorities so that these skill hubs can be established in old and unused buildings,” Agarwal told this newspaper on Sunday.
The Dhanbad Municipal Corporation already runs stitching and lac bangle centres at Bapu Nagar, Dhansar, Bastacola and Sindri, which were launched on December 3 last year in association with Khadi and Village Industries Commission, and has 30 trainees on its rolls. The new centres will focus on dokra art and block printing, besides lac bangles.
Senior engineer (co-ordination), Dhanbad railway division, B.K. Singh, who was also present at the January 6 meeting, confirmed that they were in the process of identifying three buildings.
“These abandoned buildings will soon be handed over to the municipal corporation for the skill hubs. Necessary paperwork will be taken care of,” Singh said.
Mayor Agarwal said their mission was to provide a permanent source of income to skilled women. “Our target is 20 similar training centres. We also plan to rope in marketing agencies to facilitate good sales,” he said.
The Dhanbad corporation hopes to present “a new model of training” under the national livelihood mission under which employment will be guaranteed to trainees of various skill hubs.
“While the buildings will be provided by the railways, we shall arrange machinery and trainers for both training and production. Our objective is to make skill training sustainable through job opportunities,” Agarwal added.
