Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Friday signed a memorandum of association (MoA) with Pune-based Lighthouse Communities Foundation (LCF) for providing sustainable livelihoods to youth in Odisha’s cities and towns.
This partnership program has been approved by the Honourable Chief Minister of Odisha and the MoA was signed this evening in the presence of Shri Honourable Minister for
Housing and Urban Development Minister Pratap Jena said that the partnership marks the beginning of a new phase in JAGA Mission with a focus on providing skills and livelihood opportunities to youth in urban Odisha, particularly among the poor communities. “Our endeavour through all our missions and schemes is to ensure no citizen in urban Odisha is left behind. We seek to create an enabling environment for every citizen of urban Odisha to fully realise their potential and aspirations,” he said.
The earlier two phases of the programme focused on granting land rights and providing financial assistance for housing and upgrading basic infrastructure and amenities in slum communities.
Under the three-year MoA, skilling and livelihood centres will be established in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela, Berhampur, Dhenkanal, Paradip and Jatni. These skilling centres will provide training to urban poor youths in soft skills and technical skills, and facilitate their placement. The centres are also expected to cover micro-entrepreneurship focussed skilling. This programme is expected to be implemented in all other cities in a phased manner.
“We firmly believe that providing the right skills and opportunities to these youth can empower them to fulfil their career aspirations, and transform their communities as well,” said Chairperson, Lighthouse Communities Foundation, Dr Ganesh Natarajan.
