The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, inaugurated the Jigme Wangchuck Power Training Institute (JWPTI), a government of India assisted project, at Hotel Taj Tashi in Thimphu yesterday.
A report from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Royal Government of Bhutan, states that JWPTI was proposed for capacity building, and for the enhancement of the knowledge of officials and staff who would be working in the commissioned hydro-power plants.
freeze notice is that of NLC’s The present TTI-Dekiling, Sarpang is to be upgraded into JWPTI. India has approved the grant of Nu.337 mn for augmenting TTI-Dekiling to JWPTI in the 11th FYP. The institute will train the manpower required for the projects, thereby, generating youth employment avenues.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, the Minister of Economic Affairs, Norbu Wangchuk, said, “The institute would be critical in nurturing and developing human resource asset that would be required for the present hydro-power projects as well as the hydro-projects that would come in future.”
Adding to this, the Minister of Labour and Human Resources, Ngeema Sangay Tshempo, said the institute will prove valuable trainings and open up job opportunity to the hundreds of youth entering the labour the market each year.
Bhutan aims to achieve the 10,000MW target by making all the identified hydro-power projects operational by 2020.
The government estimates that a total of 201,411 skilled and 38,472 unskilled workers will be required to work in the hydro-projects during the construction phase, while 2,195 skilled and 1,604 unskilled workers are required during the operation and management of the hydro-projects.
An immediate requirement need for human resource, in operation and management, was seen in three hydropower projects, Punatshangchhu-I, Punatshangchhu-II and Mangdechhu Projects, as the projects will be operational by 2017 to 2018, while for other hydropower projects, the manpower needs are limited to the construction phase.
The report also states that the construction of JWPTI will take 4-6 years to complete, based on the requirement of infrastructure and facilities to operate as PTI.
It further states that the establishment of TTI-Dekiling as JWPTI is a strategy to optimize the current institute, based on the emerging situation and needs to accelerate human resource development in the hydropower sector.
In 10th FYP, Bhutan proposed to set up one TvET at Dekiling, Sarpang and Institute of Zorig Chusum(IZC) in Tsirang to ensure that 70 percent of the school leavers access to Technical and vocational Education and Training (TvET).
In accordance, the government of Bhutan found out in the 10th FYP that there would be approximately 63,000 school leavers with secondary level education, who would be seeking opportunities, either in vocational training or direct employment.
With the shortage of funding, the construction of the TTI Dekiling was initiated with an overall objective of providing better access to TvET in the country. The construction was funded by government of India with Nu 332 mn.
The report from the Ministry of Economic Affairs reveals that the full intake capacity of the institute would be 300 and targeted 500 based on the staggered recruitment.
The TTI-Dekiling would work towards becoming a centre of excellence in civil engineering and deliver renowned training courses in the field of road construction and hydropower, the report added.
Further, it would also provide training courses, in line with national priorities for human resource development, and provide TvET programs that target youth, especially the school leavers.
It also aims to provide up-skilling programs for those already working to update their skills responsive to changing labour market demands and new technology.
