Lucknow, 18

March (HS): The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Vocational

Education, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship of the state, Kapil Dev

Agarwal, grandly inaugurated the 'Mega Job Fair-2026' organized at Indira

Gandhi Pratishthan, Lucknow on Wednesday. This event emerged as an important

initiative by the state government to connect youths with skill-based

employment and self-employment, in which thousands of candidates from four

divisions participated and more than 100 national and regional companies set up

their stalls to provide employment opportunities.

During the

program, Minister Agarwal interacted with youths who had received training from

ITI and Skill Development Mission and achieved employment and self-employment,

and listened to their experiences. He said that such youths are a source of

inspiration for other youths in the state. Minister Agarwal encouraged the

youths by observing the stalls of various companies and instructed the company

representatives to provide job letters to the selected candidates on the same

day. He also said that complete information about salary, workplace,

accommodation arrangements and other terms should be provided transparently in

advance, so that there is no confusion among the youths.

On this

occasion, Kapil Dev Agarwal launched three important platforms - 'Kaushal

Drishti', 'Kaushal Darpan' and 'Kaushal Dost' - to modernize and digitize the

skill development system. 'Kaushal Drishti' is an inspection-based mobile

application, through which the skill development training centers of the state

can be monitored in real-time. Through this app, information related to the

attendance of trainees, infrastructure of training centers and quality of

training will be received instantly.

'Kaushal

Darpan' is an advanced AI-based dashboard that presents various information

related to skill development in an integrated form. It provides a glimpse of

the digital map of Uttar Pradesh, total population, number of active training

providers and major employment-oriented sectors.

'Kaushal

Dost' is a chatbot-based digital facility that provides instant assistance to

users 24x7 on the UPSDM portal. Through this, candidates can easily get

information related to training programs, government schemes, registration

process and employment opportunities.

Addressing

the program, Minister Agarwal motivated the youths by saying that success comes

not only from degrees, but also from skills, self-confidence and effective

communication ability. He told the youths to shed hesitation and

self-consciousness, believe in their abilities and move towards their goals

with full energy. He also said that hard work, discipline and dedication to

one's work are the keys to success.

Minister

Agarwal also advised the youths to be patient with their careers and avoid

leaving a job without a better opportunity. He said that the government's goal

is not only to make youths job seekers, but also entrepreneurs who create

employment. He said that under the leadership of Yogi Adityanath, Uttar Pradesh

is becoming a leader in the field of skill development in the country. The

state government is providing training in advanced fields such as robotics,

drones, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, solar energy and electric

vehicles, so that youths can be prepared according to the changing demands of

industries.

Principal

Secretary Dr. Hari Om informed in his address that currently about 350 ITIs are

operating in the state, most of which are government, while some are being run

through private participation. He informed that this year 22 new ITIs have been

prepared, in which about 10,000 students will be trained, while 30 more ITIs

are planned to be started in the upcoming session. He said that special

attention is being given to improving the quality of training in ITIs,

establishing modern technical workshops and preparing courses according to the

needs of industries.

Mission

Director Pulkit Khare informed that a QR code-based system has been implemented

for digital registration in the job fair, which has provided relief to

candidates from long queues. He informed that about 80 large companies and

30-40 local companies are providing employment in various sectors in the fair.

After the completion of the selection process, arrangements have been made to

provide offer letters to eligible candidates on the same day. He also informed

that under the Skill Development Mission, millions of youths are being provided

short-term vocational training through about 2000 training partners across the

state, which is helping them get employment quickly.

There was

a huge participation of persons with disabilities, women and youths from the

'Zero Poverty' (extremely poor) category in this mega job fair. In the fair,

116 companies conducted the selection process for 15,000 vacant positions. 8694

participants participated in this fair, out of which 2527 youths received job

offers, including 473 women who got jobs in sectors like manufacturing, IT and

service sectors based on their qualifications. For 56 youths from families

falling under the 'Zero Poverty' category, this day proved to be a 'turning

point' in their lives, as they got an opportunity to start a respectable career

here.

Gathering

of leading companies and attractive opportunities More than 100 reputed

companies including Tata, Hero, Swiggy, Flipkart and logistics and healthcare

sectors participated in the fair. These companies interviewed youths who had

trained from ITI, Polytechnic and Skill Development Mission. Selected

candidates were offered attractive salary packages ranging from an initial annual

salary of Rs 1.50 lakh to Rs 35-40 thousand based on their qualifications.

On this

occasion, Anil Verma, Joint Director, Mayank Gangwar, Joint Director, Dr.

Mithilesh Kumar Singh, Assistant Director, Job Fair Nodal Officer Dr. Pavitra

Tandon, Assistant Director, along with principals of Lucknow division, MIS

managers, and the team of ITI and Skill Development were present.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi