ANGUL: On the 82nd birth day of late Om Prakash Jindal, founder of the USD 15 billion O.P. Jindal group, Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) on Sunday initiated the O.P. Jindal Community College (OPJCC) here in Angul (Odisha).
The college partnering with the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), is meant to strengthen employability of the local youths and introduce an alternative system of competency based skill oriented technical and vocational training.
Addressing a strong gathering of 1000 villagers and School Teachers from the periphery of JSPL the chief guest, Amarnath Pradhan, Member of Parliament appreciated the efforts made by JSPL towards the holistic improvement of the socio-economic conditions of the local people.
“In comparison to other industries in the district, I thank JSPL for its sincere efforts to make the life of local people better” he said. Adding that local people are still skeptic about employment in local industries Pradhan said “Industry should flourish but it must have positive impact on the sustainable livelihoods of the local people”.
Pradhan added that OP Jindal Community College is an honest attempt to improve the employability of the local youth, there by creating opportunities for the Industries to induct quality local man power. In turn the local youths will have employment with dignity in their neighborhood.
Elaborating about the rich natural resources of the state, Khageswar Behera, MLA, Chhendipada constituency as the Guest of Honour on the occasion said “Being rich with minerals we cannot go poor.
Hence I thank Mr. Naveen Jindal for setting up his plant in our area which would explore the resources and contribute to the local prosperity as well ”.
Behera also added that “There is a new era of progress after industries started value addition in Orissa pursuant to the present Govt’s Policy . And OPJCC is a noble initiative to help us grow and to enable the Youth to work with pride”.
Besides imparting several trade based skills to the youth , OPJCC is specially designed to equip the school dropouts or late entrants with various skills of high employment potential in the Industries.
The OPJCC, a sustainable development initiative of the O.P. Jindal group is dedicated towards the improvement of the marginalized segment of our locality.
It would be creating opportunities for the youths of Odisha to become the largest pool of skilled and technically trained human resource thereby enabling them to get employment in the nearby industries.
Speaking on the occasion, Rajesh Jha, Executive Director, JSPL, Angul said “It’s not important to be highly educated to get a job. What is important is to get appropriate skills to deliver according to the need of the employer. There needs to be a matching need between the need profile of the industry and the skill profile of the job aspirants.
And that’s why OPJCC is launched to provide proper skills to our youths in proper matching of the operating and upcoming needs of the Industries ”. Citing the example of the 12th century sun temple of Odisha, Jha said “Konark was not built by highly educated people.
But it was built by highly skilled people. So, it’s important to know how skilled they were rather identifying their education”.
Jha also appreciated the support and active participation of the local community in setting the plant.“This is the first steel plant in the world which is being built by the community itself. It will also be the largest integrated steel plant of the world that will produce 20MT steels per annum” he added.
The OP Jindal Community College will be established near Maratira, 15 km away from Angul on the Sambalpur Highway.
Among other speakers on the dais, Miss Mariam Karter, Director, OPJCC, P.S. Dhillon, Sr.Vice President, Coal Gasification Plant, Prashant Kumar Hota, Associate Vice President, CSR, P.W. Singh, Principal, OPJCC, Angul and S.K. Mohapatra, Associate Vice President, HR of JSPL were also present on the occasion.
