The State Government is committed to build Odisha as a premier hub for skill development and technical education in the entire country. The Minister of Industries, Skill Development, and Technical Education, Sampad Chandra Swain, stated this while attending as the chief guest at the state-level World Youth Skills Day celebration held at the Convention Centre of Lok Seva Bhawan, Bhubaneswar.
On the occasion of World Youth Skills Day, the Minister extended his best wishes to the successful youth of Odisha and said that their skill is India’s strength and their success is India’s pride. He emphasised that in the current times, it is essential to prepare the youth to leverage new opportunities in advanced manufacturing, digital technology, green economy, and the service sector. For this, focusing on skilling, re-skilling, and up-skilling is absolutely necessary, as today’s skills will create tomorrow’s leadership. On this occasion, the Minister urged the youth to dream big and enhance their skills.
World Youth Skills Day is celebrated globally every year on July 15. The theme for this year is “Skills for a Shared Future,” which emphasises equipping the youth with a balanced set of capabilities—including technical, digital, Artificial Intelligence (AI), green, socio-emotional, and civic skills—to achieve success in a rapidly changing world.
A total of 62 medal winners from the IndiaSkills Competition 2025-26 were honoured with the “Chief Minister’s Skill Award.” Under this award, ₹2.00 lakh was presented for a Gold Medal, ₹1.00 lakh for a Silver Medal, ₹50,000 for a Bronze Medal, and ₹25,000 for a Medallion of Excellence. By winning the highest number of medals in the country, Odisha emerged as the “National Skill Champion” at IndiaSkills 2025-26, reflecting the state’s robust skill development ecosystem and the outstanding talent of its youth.
During the program, fellows from the first batch of the “Chief Minister’s Skill Development Fellowship” (CMSDF) program were felicitated for successfully completing their two-year fellowship. Launched by the Chief Minister in 2024, this CMSDF program has significantly strengthened the skill development system at the grassroots level in the state. The program’s institutional partners, “Tata Strive” and the “Indian School of Business,” were also honoured for their guidance and cooperation.
To strengthen ties with the industry, improve training quality, and create more opportunities for students and skilled youth, multiple Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed with various partner organisations during the celebration. These organisations included TCS iON, Edunet Foundation, TNAUTO, ISIEIndia, Abicor Binzel, and Yudiz Solutions.
Earlier in the day, the Minister of Industries, Skill Development, and Technical Education, Shri Sampad Chandra Swain, and the Minister of Higher Education, Sports & Youth Services, and Odia Language, Literature & Culture, Shri Suryabanshi Suraj, jointly flagged off a “Skill Marathon” at the Kalinga Stadium. More than 500 students from the World Skill Center, ITIs, polytechnics, and other educational institutions participated in this marathon.
Bhupendra Singh Poonia, Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Skill Development and Technical Education Department; Chakraborty Singh Rathore, Director of Technical Education & Training and Skill Development-cum-Employment, and Rashmi Ranjan Mohapatra, CEO of the World Skill Center, along with other senior officers and industry representatives, were present on the occasion.
