Kolkata: For decades, employment exchanges in West Bengal were farcical bleak houses where the state's unemployed registered in millions without expecting an interview call. This year, the government wants to change all that through job training.

Brainware, a leading vocational institute, will now be assisting the West Bengal government in providing training in multiple domains of IT to youths registered with the state employment exchanges under the Scheme for Skill Development for Registered Job Seekers.

Intended to bridge the gap between job seekers' academic knowledge and industry requirements of ground skills, the government has roped in Brainware for the training of jobless in multimedia, hardware and networking, software development and computerised financial accounting.

"There are 10.1 million people registered with the employment exchanges for over five years. We cannot train all but a small beginning has been made with the government approaching us to take advantage of our programmes and network spread across the state's districts," Brainware chairman and managing director Phalguni Mookhopadhayay told IANS.

"We are happy to be part of the government's initiative. The government has offered to sponsor Rs.5,000 or 50 percent of the course fee, whichever is lower, to the trainees," Mookhopadhayay said.

"We have also kept the course fee low," he said.

"We have seen over the years that the number of educated has nothing to do with employability. So, keeping that factor in mind, we are also teaching soft skills and preparing them to face interviews," said Mookhopadhayay.

"This scheme is expected to benefit a huge number of jobless over the next three years," he said.