Chandigarh, Nov 12 (IANS) The Punjab government has tied up with Bharti Wal-Mart Pvt Ltd to set up ‘Bharti Wal-Mart Skill Centre’ in Amritsar, a vocational training institute for the unemployed youth of the state.”This skill centre will provide training to the youth to hone their technical skills regarding modern retail and allied sectors like logistics, supply chain and other support services,” a government spokesperson told reporters here Wednesday after the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU).

Free training would be given to all students at the centre, which will be certified by Bharti Wal-Mart, the official added.

The MoU was signed by Navreet Singh Kang, principal secretary of employment generation and training and Bharti Wal-Mart’s Raj Jain. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was also present on the occasion.

“We consider skill development as an important strategy for empowering the state’s youth. This centre will act as a positive catalyst to promote economic and social development of local communities by imparting technical training and certification on modern retail to the youth,” said Badal.

“We had initiated vocational training through partnership with leading private companies like Tata Motors and Larsen and Toubro in the six districts of the state,” he added.