Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday said his government plans to introduce a new employment policy soon, which will give impetus to job creation and reduce unemployment in the State.

       Speaking after inaugurating the Jobs Fair at the Gogte Engineering College here held under the auspices of the Skills Development Corporation, Bommai said jobless youths were being given an honorary employment dole to encourage them to find employment.

       The government will henceforth encourage such institutions which are engaged in generating higher number of employment opportunities, he said.

       "The thrust and focus of our government will now be on enhancing the quality of education, skills and creation of employment opportunities. The new education policy lays stress on job vocational courses and work closely with the industry and its demands," the Chief Minister said.

       He also said there is a need to upgrade higher education and professional courses to global learning standards and hence the Higher Education and Skills Development Departments are working in unison to this effect.

       Speaking on the occasion, Minister for IT-BT, Science and Technology, Higher Education and Skills Development C N Aswath Narayan said it was the responsibility of the government to ensure that students find jobs, which should commensurate with their skills and level of education. This is the whole idea of launching 'jobs for all' programme by the government, he explained.

       Further, Narayan said six universities in the state will be upgraded to the status of 'University of Eminence' and seven government-run engineering colleges in the state will be developed further to the level of IITs in Karnataka.

       He added that the government will come up with an action plan within a month to develop Visvesvaraya Technical University, which is headquartered in Belagavi.

       Meanwhile, a large number of job aspirants thronged the job fair in Belagavi. Majority of them were Bachelor of Engineering, Diploma in Engineering and Industrial Training Institute graduates from Belagavi and the neighbouring districts of Dharwad, Gadag, Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Uttar Kannada.

       The fair was held at the Gogte Engineering College premises in Belagavi. More than 5,400 students had registered their names in the skill portal by Wednesday evening to attend the fair.

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