The Mizoram Youth Commission (MYC) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with IIM Shillong’s Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Centre for Policy Research and Analysis for the development of human resource in the state by helping create curricula, courses and capacity building.

The agreement was signed at Aizawl on Saturday between Prof D.P. Goyal, director of IIM Shillong, and Dr Vanlaltanpuia, MLA and chairman of the MYC. The signing was followed by a meeting with Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga where issues related to the MoU on skill training was discussed, the Mizoram CMO tweeted.

The MYC was set up in 2008 by an act of the Mizoram Legislative Assembly for the welfare of the youths by harnessing their potential and “undertake promotional and educational research” so as to suggest the government “better ways” of ensuring employment opportunities, among others.

Through the MoU, IIM Shillong “aims to assist” the government of Mizoram and the MYC in identifying skill gaps in particular, offer capacity-building programmes for government employees, and support Mizoram’s economic development by encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship in promising industries, the IIM said in a statement.

Describing the MoU as a “far-sighted approach”, IIM Shillong director Goyal said by working together with the Mizoram government they hope to develop value-added skills in youths and encourage them to be competent and entrepreneurial.

IIM Shillong, set up in 2007 in Meghalaya, also hopes to develop a framework for effective and result-driven youth empowerment, particularly in the areas of management development, entrepreneurship development and capacity building programmes.

Atul Kulkarni, member, board of governors, IIM Shillong, said: “IIM Shillong will help build the groundwork and serve as a catalyst for focused research and decision-making with regard to skill development within the larger economic framework. ”

The terms of the MoU included promoting human resource development in Mizoram by assisting institutions in developing curriculum, course design and capacity building, providing capacity building programmes for Mizoram government officials and engaging IIM Shillong (Dr. Kalam Centre) in imparting value-added skills to foster competency and entrepreneurship among the youths of Mizoram.

The MoU will also recognise IIM Shillong (Dr. Kalam Centre) as knowledge partner for research, policy development, analysis, impact study and identifying/recommending necessary interventions besides stimulating economic development in Mizoram through innovation and entrepreneurship in the potential sectors.

MYC chairman Vanlaltanpuia told The Telegraph that one of the key objectives of the collaboration was to identify the problems and challenges so that it can be made use by various departments to address issues related to unemployment and skill development.

“We want to make skill development more organised through proper skill gap mapping to eliminate overlapping among various departments which lead to wastage of resources so that we can effectively tackle unemployment, an important issue in all the states. We want to address this problem through proper and effective research, ” Vanlaltanpuia said.

MYC caters to youths aged between 18 and 35.