India’s first state-backed job placement centre to open in Mumbai, Aurangabad soon

Maharashtra will open the country’s first state-backed global skill development and placement centre soon. The project received a go-ahead from Union Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday.

The centre will prep youngsters to get jobs in various sectors overseas. Job seekers from Maharashtra and other states will be able to apply for skilled jobs at the centre, which will assist them in securing jobs.

The first centre will be set up in Mumbai; later sub-centres will open in Aurangabad and Nagpur, too.

State labour minister Sambhaji Patil Nilangekar said: “Sushmaji has been keen on this project and has given us the green signal after the final proposal was submitted. The Centre has given us the permission to go ahead with the state recruitment agency, under which we will also do overseas placement.”

The state government is now ascertaining the demand of workforce in various countries that face a shortage of skilled labour. “We are looking at non-English speaking countries. For example, Japan has announced that it has one lakh jobs to offer across various sectors,” Nilangekar said. The state is also looking at some European countries, including Germany, he added.

He said the placement centre would also provide end-to-end emigration support, orientation sessions to groom people’s language skills and post-placement support.

People hunting for jobs will not have to worry about getting cheated as the centre will protect their interests and rights, the minister said. “As a safeguard, we will sign an agreement with the candidate who goes abroad for a job.”

“There are many cases where people have been cheated by recruitment agencies. As of today, there are 151 fake agencies [in the state] on which action will be taken,” the minister added.