Chandigarh: In a major push to make Punjab’s youth industry-ready and job-ready, the Punjab Skill Development Mission (PSDM) signed two landmark MoUs- one with the State Institute of Automotive & Driving Skills (SIADS), Mahuana for high-demand automotive and driving trades and a tripartite MoU with the Northern India Institute of Fashion Technology (NIIFT), Industries & Commerce department (GoP) and the Footwear Design & Development Institute (FDDI) for specialised footwear and fashion manufacturing roles.
Congratulating the PSDM team on the strategic importance of these partnerships, Punjab Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training Minister Mr. Aman Arora stated, “These collaborations mark a new chapter in Punjab’s skill development landscape. By aligning our training programmes with the specific needs of high-growth sectors like automotive and footwear, we are not just creating job seekers, but building a future-ready workforce. The integration of premier national institutes like FDDI and NIIFT with our state machinery ensures that our youth receive world-class training, directly translating into better career prospects and contributing to the industrial growth of Punjab.”
Highlighting the key objectives of the collaborations, Mr. Aman Arora said that the partnerships would leverage FDDI’s expertise as a premier institute of national importance in the footwear sector, NIIFT’s domain expertise in apparel and fashion and SIADS’ expertise in automotive and driving. The partnerships aim to strengthen institutional collaboration, promote industry-aligned skill training, enhance employability and meet the skilled workforce requirements of industry, with a focus on NSQF-based programmes, placements, apprenticeships and entrepreneurship development.
