RESURGENT INDIA: Skills For A $5 Trillion Economy

• To achieve a five trillion dollar economy Skill Development is the requisite to have skilled manpower in the various sectors that would drive this growth.

Opportunities for India in this field

• With half of its population below the age of 25, the country has the World’s youngest population. Along with this, India is also slated to go through a phase of sharp slowdown in population growth in the next two decades which has been pointed out in the Economic Survey for 2018-19.
• This means that while the country as a whole will enjoy the ‘’demographic divided’ ’phase, parts of it will witness the transition to ‘an ageing society by the 2030s’.
• The big challenge today, therefore, is of converting this transition into a dividend- the number of those gainfully contributing to economic growth equaling the number of those dependent.

Initiatives taken for Skill Development

• The National Skill Development Policy in 2009 and the National Skill Development Fund (NSDF) and the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) was established under the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
• The National Skill Development Authority (NSDA) and The National Sills Qualification Framework (NSQF) were established in 2013.
• A comprehensive skill development programme has been implemented in the last five years with the setting up of the Ministry for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) in November 2014.
• The Government formulated the National policy on Skill Development and entrepreneurship, 2015, under which the Skill India Mission by 2022 was formulated.
• The Skill India Initiative was launched in 2015. A flagship programme Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY ) is aimed at mobilizing the youth to take up industry-relevant skill training and recognize and certify prior learning.
• PMKVY’s second version for 2016-20 brought in mandatory provisions for placement tracking.
• Other flagship initiatives of the Government to promote skill development include Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDUGKY), Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras (PMKK) and National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS).
• National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme was initiated in 2016 to promote apprenticeship with provision for basic training and on-the job training or practical training at workplace.
• SANKALP which was launched in 2017 aims to create convergence among all skill training activities, improve quality of skill development programmes and create industry-led and demand-driven skill training capacity.
• STRIVE a another initiative which was launched in 2017, aims to create awareness through industry clusters, integrate and enhance delivery quality of ITIs.
• National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC): The NSDC, one of its kind, Public-Private Partnership Company, has acted as a catalyst in skill development. FICCI is a shareholder of NSDC. To enable industry led competency building 38 Sector Skill Councils (SSC) are there, some of which are promoted by FICCI.
• Additional qualifications for meeting the needs of industry 4.0 are being created. To increase aspirations of youth for skill development a comprehensive programme for skill competitions at the State level followed by national competition are being organized.
• The winners of the national competition represent India in the World Skills Competition. The last one was held in Kazan in August 2019. NSDC launched a recognition of prior learning scheme to enable those who are in work to obtain a certificate that serves as a recognition of their skill level and helps them in the labor market.
• To enable India to be the skill capital of the world, youth are being trained for specific skills for overseas markets.
• Bilateral agreements with Japan, UAE and other countries are enabling youth in India to be trained to their skill and language levels for specific jobs in those countries.

Outcomes of the Skill Development Programs

• The impact analysis of the short-term training under PMKVY on employment shows that training and certification has led to a nine-percentage point increase in proportion of employed individuals.
• In terms of income, PMKVY training and certification has contributed 15 per cent to the mean monthly income.
• The New Education Policy aims to introduce skills in schools, colleges and Universities. The MSDE is in the process of restructuring the NQSF and the National Council for Vocational Training. There are also discussions on revamping the PMKVY.
• The skills ecosystem that has been created, could also address the needs of those firms who find it difficult to identify the right people to employ.
• It could be done by developing the qualification pack for the job role, getting it approved and then working with a training partner and recruited. Similarly, we could train for the world in future.