Govt asks India Inc to focus on skilling

Currently India has only 3.5 per cent skilled manpower against 95 per cent in Korea, 78 per cent in Japan and 75 per cent in Germany

Mumbai: Inviting India Inc to join the government's initiative of creating skilled manpower, Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu said the programme will be taken to the block level by creating training centres for various sectors. "We have the inherent strength (manpower) but we need to upgrade it.

Today there is a huge shortage of manpower across the globe. Our biggest asset is our human resource. If we train our manpower, we will be able to provide the workforce to the world," the Urban Development Minister told reporters.

He was speaking to the media after the National Industry Conclave on Skill Development, attended by top industrialists, representatives of public sector banks and other institutions, apart from six union ministers.

Naidu said the government can also provide funds required to scale up projects through its various ministries. "We also told the industry that apart from government funds, CSR funds can also be utilised for the programme. We can dovetail this money," he said.

The minister said the industry has requested the government to establish central mechanism of certification of skilled workers. "We have informed them that the National Skill Development Council will take care of certification.

"The private sector needs to participate in a big way. If they require land for setting up training centres, it could be made available by urban or local bodies. The companies can also buy land for the purpose," he said.

Naidu said the government has outlined eight groups which need to be addressed under this programme. These include school and college dropouts, unemployed engineers, and graduates and post-graduates, people in the service trade, craftsmen; those engaged in agri and allied industry and self-help groups.

The minister said there is huge opportunity in sectors like pharma, hospitality, education, aviation, marine, electricals and electronics, sales and marketing, retail, construction, textile, IT and IT-enabled services.

When asked how the government will ensure employability of this trained manpower, the minister said, "We are not setting any target for ourselves. Our mission is to create a skilled workforce which can either find an employment in public/private sector or become entrepreneur. Through the Mudra Bank, loans at low interest rates would be provided to self-employed people."

The industrialists at the meeting informed the government about the initiatives taken by them for participating in the programme and also voiced their concerns, Naidu said. "The issues raised by them included land and certification.

They also suggested that the construction cess collected by the state governments should be utilised for training in this sector. "They also suggested that Apprenticeship Act in Maharashtra should be adopted by other states. They also discussed creating skill development councils in each state," Naidu said.

Besides Naidu, the union ministers who attended the closed-door meeting included Nitin Gadkari, Manohar Parrikar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Suresh Prabhu, Rao Birender Singh and Dharmendra Pradhan. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also attended the meeting.

Earlier during the conclave, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that all the industrial training institutes (ITIs) in the state will be open for adoption by industries. "Already 400 ITIs in the state have been adopted by industries and the result is encouraging. We have observed that the skilling should be as per the needs of the industry and should not become a mere certification process," Fadnavis said