What’s your skill today?

With such a favourable demographic dividend and a global opportunity, India still struggles. India’s estimated labour force is 509.3 million, and there are 12.8 million new entrants each year. Over 70 per cent of the labour force is educated below the primary level. It is estimated that only 5 per cent of the youth are single skill vocationally trained compared to 96 per cent in Korea — or even 22 per cent in Botswana. Current vocational training infrastructure caters to just 2.5 million annually through the Directorate General of Employment and Training (DGET) and other departments.

The good news is that we as a country are finally focusing on the skills mission. For instance, the DGET increased its budget from around Rs 130 crore to Rs 1,200 crore this year. It also plans to spend Rs 14,000 crore over the next five years. The government has opened doors for industry to partner the skills initiative and industry is actively contributing in the scheme. Under the ITI upgradation scheme the government aims at modernising 300 ITIs in the public-private partnership mode at a cost of Rs 774 crore in 2007-08.

Today, over 11 ministries at the Centre and their counterparts in the states are energised to ensure systematic delivery of skills. Equally active now are the civil society organisations and vocational training providers. Multilateral agencies such as the International Labour Organisation are joining hands with state governments to impart skills to domestic workers. For instance, the Delhi government has already launched a skills training programme for students from government schools in Delhi in partnership with the CII. Andhra Pradesh is keen to extend quality skills training to its youth. The government is hence undertaking skill gap studies across sectors in the state.

From industry, Dr Reddy’s has already started a skills training programme for the rural youth. TATA Motors and MICO are undertaking projects in skills at both national and international levels. HPCL is providing training to youth from Tier II and III towns in basic skills such as carpentry, masonry, electrical repair, hospitality, etc. L&T already has a full fledged construction academy to train its workers.

But there is still a lot to be done. We need a paradigm shift in the national skill development policy. The government needs to strengthen its role as a partner and facilitator while maintaining its regulatory influence. A national skills development authority should be established for accreditation, prescribing standards and capacity building with membership of both private and public sectors. Industry needs to be given a free hand for creating business models for training.

In broadbasing the skills development efforts, India faces a limitation. The common man gets no financial support to obtain training. The government should shoulder this responsibility. Given that majority in India subsists close to the poverty line, for many affording training in basic skills is a distant dream. It is thus imperative to have a national skills development bank, where young people can obtain easy loans.

We need public private partnerships. After all, aviation, telecom and IT have proved that PPP does work in this country.

The writer is director-general of the Confederation of Indian Industry

s.s.mehta@ciionline.org