Talent-mapping launched for honing skills: CM

Meets US-based Kashmiri students  
Chief Minister Mr. Omar Abdullah has said that the government has launched talent-mapping programme to identify skills and hone them so that our youth compete and excel both at national and international levels. He said University of Kashmir, in collaboration with NASSCOM, has created a talent pool of about 600 students for capacity building and skill development to suit demands of present-day job market. In the second phase, a pool of 5,000 educated youth of the State would be trained and their skills polished to enhance their employability.
The Chief Minister said this while interacting with a group of non-resident students of Kashmir studying in various universities of the United States (US). The group also comprised students from Tanzania, Iran as well as from the state of West Bengal. 
Interacting with the students, Mr. Abdullah underscored the importance of introducing voluntary service programme in school curriculum to involve students in public service from an early age. He also stressed on creating avenues of interaction between students of the State and those studying abroad so that there is an exchange of ideas for mutual benefit. 
The group of students is here to study health, education, economic development and other public service sectors of the State and identify areas where they can be of help to local students in their pursuit for higher education outside J&K.
The students posed various questions to the Chief Minister regarding avenues in education, healthcare and economy of the State. They evinced keen interest in areas which can be utilized to improve the educational system in the State so that students are exposed to larger international competition. 
The Chief Minister heard the students and answered their queries lucidly, acquainting them with the government’s various policy programmes for enhancing the skills of educated youth.  
The Chief Minister said selling skills and adaptability of the youth is being improved and IT and IT-enabled services have been activated to meet the demands of high-tech job markets. “We want to create tele-presence links between various universities so that lectures right from IIT Bangalore or IIT Kharagpur could be viewed by students right here,” he added.
The students thanked the Chief Minister for being with them and sharing his ideas for the welfare of the youth of Jammu and Kashmir.