Udhayanidhi Stalin inaugurates Skill Development Centres in Coimbatore

Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin inaugurated 29 skill development and placement centres across Tamil Nadu via videoconferencing from Coimbatore on Wednesday. These centres were set up at a cost of Rs. 31 crore and equipped with 2,900 computers. He also launched Smart Manufacturing Technology Centres in six polytechnic colleges, a joint initiative by the Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation and Schneider Electric World Skill Academy.
Udhayanidhi highlighted the Dravidian model as a solution to the state’s challenges. He praised DMK founder CN Annadurai for establishing schools across Tamil Nadu and his successor M Karunanidhi for opening colleges statewide. He added that Chief Minister MK Stalin has taken this vision forward with the 'Naan Mudhalvan' scheme, aimed at ensuring all graduates find employment or become entrepreneurs. This initiative has received nationwide recognition.
The government identified that while many graduates are employable, they lack the skills needed for recruitment and job acquisition. To address this, the new placement centres will provide training in project ideation, communication, problem-solving, and interview preparation. Additionally, the centres will offer foreign language courses, including German, Japanese, and French. Udhayanidhi mentioned that select students are sent abroad for global exposure, citing the example of Amirtha, a tea worker’s daughter from Kundha in Nilgiris, who visited London this year.
He encouraged employed youth to continue learning new skills and commended Coimbatore's college students, referring to them as an "enterprising community" striving to become job providers rather than job seekers.
The event was attended by State Electricity Minister Senthil Balaji, Higher Education Minister Govi Chezhiyan, Coimbatore MP Ganapathi Rajkumar, Coimbatore Collector Kranthi Kumar Pati, and Corporation Commissioner Sivaguru Prabakaran.