DW BUREAU / Chandigarh The Punjab government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar, in the area of skill development. According to a government statement, the MoU provides for the IIT's technical education department to become an academic mentor for the state's engineering colleges at Gurdaspur and Ferozepur, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Skill Institute at Chamkaur Sahib, five government polytechnics and 10 government ITIs. The institute will also help the state in developing a model ITI and a model polytechnic. Others would be modelled on similar lines subsequently, it said. IIT-Ropar Director S K Das suggested that the state should take the initiative of setting up a defence manufacturing corridor with the institute's support. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said he will take up the issue with the Centre. He urged the IIT to help the state in the manufacture of small devices for controlling water wastage in irrigation. In response, Das assured the chief minister of the institute's full support. Singh directed Punjab Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan to resolve the IIT's land acquisition-related issues, while urging the institute to develop its campus as a green campus, with extensive landscaping and afforestation. He also directed the chief secretary to constitute a committee to look into the IIT director's submission that private universities and colleges in the state are increasing seats for engineering courses without any checks and balances. In a separate video conference, Indian Institute of Management, Amritsar, extended support to the state government in promoting skill development. IIM Director Ramamoorthy Nagarajan said the institution would be organising various short-term courses for officers, including excise, business management, taxation and others. Across India, special PMKVY mobilisation camps are being organized at 100 locations with Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS). A national SMS campaign is being rolled out to build awareness of the program, reaching about 40 crore subscribes. Fresh PMKVY training was initiated in 1,000 centres across all States and Union Territories in India today, covering 50,000 youth in 100 job roles across 25 sectors. In New Delhi, 150 Skill Vans were flagged off to create awareness among people of Delhi and NCR region on government's policies and initiatives on skill development. He said that the government has set a target to provide skill training to 40.02 crore people by 2022. (editor@dailyworld.in)