Thiruvananthapuram | ASAP Kerala, the skill development agency of the Higher Education department, and the Cochin Shipyard Ltd would have agreed to jointly conduct training programmes for skill development of youth of marginalised sections.

The 'Samathva Project' for the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and fishermen at the state level and the 'She-Skills' project for the women of Ernakulam district were inaugurated by the Minister of Higher Education R Bindu here on Friday.

The project will be implemented with the help of Cochin Shipyard's CSR fund of Rs.50 lakh, an official statement said.

Nine vocational programs will be implemented through the projects with the help of Cochin Shipyard's CSR Fund. The initiatives would focus on the upliftment of youth from marginalized sections.

Under the 'She Skills' project, courses like medical coding, general duty assistant and housekeeping associate would be offered.

The 'Samathva' project would impart training for courses like Automotive Service Technician, Fitness Trainer, Java, Logistics, GST and Mobile Hardware to the target group.

A memorandum of understanding was exchanged between ASAP Kerala, CMD, Dr Usha Titus, ASAP Kerala, Cochin Shipyard Technical Department Director Bijoy Bhaskar on Friday at Minister Bindu's chamber.

ASAP Kerala Curriculum Funding Division Head Commander Vinod Shankar (Retd.) and Cochin Shipyard CSR Head Sampath Kumar PN was also present during the function, the statement added.