On World Youth Skills Day 2026, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath honoured youth in Lucknow who trained through the Skill Development Mission and ITIs and went on to become self-reliant through employment and entrepreneurship. The event in Lucknow also saw the launch of several new schemes and portals centred on skilling, jobs and innovation.
What happened at the event
According to news reports, around 400 youths were honoured at the felicitation ceremony, with 21 of them specially recognised as youth icons. These are young people who trained through ITIs and the Skill Development Mission and have since either started their own ventures or secured jobs. In other words, the government's aim was not just to provide training but to showcase that trainees are genuinely becoming self-reliant after completing it. During the programme, the state government also signed memorandums of understanding, or MoUs, with several industries, so that trained youth could get direct employment opportunities instead of the training staying confined to paper.
Kaushal Sarathi and Kaushal Setu portals launched
At the same event, the government launched the Kaushal Sarathi portal, designed to connect youth with the right training programmes and job opportunities based on their skills and interests. Alongside it, the Kaushal Setu portal was also launched, aimed at building a direct link between skill development centres and industries. This is meant to help training institutes understand exactly what kind of skills the market actually needs, so that youth training can be aligned with real job requirements.
Job fairs held across the state
To mark World Youth Skills Day, job fairs were organised not just in Lucknow but across 74 districts of Uttar Pradesh on 13 and 14 July. Priority at these fairs was given to youth listed under the "zero poverty" category and to persons with disabilities, meaning the government emphasised reaching the most vulnerable groups first. In Gonda district, one such job fair saw interviews conducted for 500 posts. The government's stated aim is to ensure youth can find employment opportunities closer to home in every district, so they do not need to move to big cities for jobs.
What Yogi Adityanath posted
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath shared details of the event on his social media handle on X, writing that a felicitation ceremony was held in Lucknow on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day 2026 for youth who trained through the Skill Development Mission and ITIs and became self-reliant through employment and entrepreneurship. He also shared a video from the event along with the post.
About Lucknow
Lucknow is the capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh and administratively falls under Lucknow district. Being the state capital, it regularly hosts major government events, policy launches and felicitation ceremonies, which is also why it was chosen as the venue for a nationally significant occasion like World Youth Skills Day.
Public reaction
The Chief Minister's post drew a mixed response on social media. While several users praised the government's push on skill development and youth self-reliance, others used the same platform to raise separate complaints and questions about local administration in their areas.
