Hone your social skills, Odisha Govt ITI students told

Bhubaneswar: Hundreds of students of Government ITI in Unit VIII area, who took part in a Youth Connect Programme at their campus today, were told to hone their social skills besides learning technology-based skills while eyeing their employability factor.
The awareness initiative under the Socially Smart Project of Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL), Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and UNFPA at Government ITI today discussed issues like violence against women and how the youth could be a part of the process to prevent the same in their surroundings.
Initiating the discussion Principal ITI Bhubaneswar Jeetamitra Satapathy said “the youth should not think about the gender and with mutual respect they should behave reciprocately in the society whether it is inside an educational institution or at the workplace. We must learn to respect each other.’’
Banita Maharana, police officer from Twin City Commissionerate Police, who was the expert speaker on this occasion, said “the Indian Constitution has already declared all human beings equal and there should be no role of gender in one’s judgment. The time has arrived to get ourselves out of the pre-historic mindset.’’
Addressing boys to be sensitive towards their fair sex counterparts and always remain watchful throughout their lives to ensure this, the police officer also added that a society which shows respect to its women folks will always prosper and flourish as the “creators of the human race’’ would always feel honoured and safe.
She also inspired girl students to be bold and opt for challenging careers in life so that they could prove that the girls are not inferior to boys and they have all abilities to do all tough jobs in the society.
It can be mentioned here that on August 19 a day-long orientation programme for nodal officers and student volunteers from educational institutions was organised at Institute on Management of Agricultural Extension (IMAGE) of Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Siripur to launch the Youth Connect Programme.
The Socially Smart Project being a flagship initiative to bring in social changes first among the youths of the slums of the Bhubaneswar Town Centre District, it has now been up-scaled to a pan-city venture as the city has nearly 28 percent youth in its population. The Youth Connect initiative is a venture to sensitise youth at community and institutional-level.