Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will on Wednesday inaugurate the ‘Connect to Work’ initiative that seeks to provide a monthly allowance to youth who are just about to enter the job market.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty said the financial assistance was aimed at reducing the mental and financial stress experienced by youngsters during the period between completing their education and finding employment.
Eligible youth will get a monthly support of ₹1,000 for a period of one year as part of the scheme. This will be of help to those preparing for competitive examinations or undergoing skill training in order to land the job they want. The idea behind the initiative is that the confidence of the youth will increase and they will feel enthusiastic about continuing their education or the training they are undergoing.
The beneficiaries must be between the ages of 18 and 30, and should have completed Plus Two higher secondary or vocational higher secondary, ITI, diploma, or undergraduation. Only those belonging to families with an annual income up to ₹5 lakh are eligible.
Applications can be filed online on the National Employment Service department’s portal — eemployment.kerala.gov.in.
The Minister said 36,500 applications had been received across the State, and after scrutiny, an initial list of 10,000 was handed over to the government. The government expects five lakh people to benefit from the scheme, the Minister added.
The State-level inauguration of the initiative will be held at the Nishagandhi auditorium here at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
Labour Secretary Shanavas S. said help-desks had been set up in employment exchanges to clear doubts on applying for the initiative.
Published – January 20, 2026 08:20 pm IST
