Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker M. Appavu and Minister for Labour Welfare C.V. Ganesan on Tuesday inaugurated a skill development training programme for ITI tradesman and diploma-holders from Radhapuram Assembly constituency to enable them to fetch employment in Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP).
In this month-long training programme, the trainees will be educated on high-tech welding methods, checking its quality with hi-tech radiological devices and other technicalities involved in construction and maintenance of nuclear reactor by experts from the KKNPP and other construction companies involved in the construction of the nuclear reactors.
“Since these unemployed youth will be equipped with the skills required for construction and maintenance of nuclear power stations, the probability of their getting recruited by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, the project proponent of the KKNPP, is high. We’ll ensure that the educationally qualified local well-trained youth are getting recruited in the KKNPP,” said Mr. Appavu while inaugurating the training programme at Anu Vijay Township, the residential colony of the KKNPP staff at Chettikulam.
He said the KKNPP, which had agreed to recruit qualified youth from Radhapuram Assembly segment, especially who had given their agricultural lands to the NPCIL for the construction of six nuclear reactors, and fulfilled the promise till 2011 as per the agreement reached, had trashed the accord.
“The new beginning should ensure the recruitment of locals in large numbers for ‘C’ and ‘D’ category jobs as the ITI tradesmen and the diploma-holders from Radhapuram segment will be technically strong now,” Mr. Appavu said, which was endorsed by Mr. Ganesan.
Mr. Appavu appealed to the KKNPP administration to construct groynes in all coastal villages near the KKNPP on an outlay of ₹700 crore to protect the villages from high tides and fund the ‘Lift Irrigation Project’ for bringing the surplus water of the Pazhaiyar in Kanniyakumari district to the coastal hamlets around the KKNPP.
Mr. Ganesan said the KKNPP administration and the NPCIL should recruit only the locals for ‘C’ and ‘D’ category jobs since the State government was working towards its promise of creating two lakh new jobs per year. “At the same time, you can fill other vacancies either through District Employment Office and other regular recruitment procedure.”
After inaugurating a community hall at Kudankulam, sponsored by the KKNPP on an outlay of ₹ 6.50 crore as part of its corporate social responsibility programme, along with Mr. Appavu, Mr. Ganesan laid the foundation stone for Government ITI at Radhapuram.
In Palayamkottai, the Minister inaugurated a skill development centre for physically challenged persons on Indian Red Cross Society premises, which has been taken over by the district administration.
Director of Employment and Training K. Veeraraghava Rao, Collector V. Vishnu, KKNPP Site Director Premkumar and Tirunelveli MP S. Gnanathiraviam were present.
