Industry needs to supplement the government’s efforts in skill development. This was stated by Mr. Rajiv PratapRudy, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship while addressing the Plenary Session on Skilling India at the CII Annual Session 2016: Building National Competitivenes being organized in New Delhi today. According to Mr. Rudy, Government can create the necessary platforms to promote skill development in India but the final training has to be done at the company level.

The Minister pointed out that industry needs to partner its efforts in almost every aspect of skill development – be it in terms of setting up ITIs or in terms of training manpower. There is a need to create the appropriate ecosystem for promoting skills development in the country and for this, the government needs Indian industry knowledge and expertise.

Mr. Rudy stated that the Apprenticeship Act had been amended and all the hurdles that existed in this regard had been removed. He encouraged industry to take advantage of the changed environment and take on more apprentices. He also pointed out that the National Skills Qualifications Framework had been announced and he encouraged industry to take advantage of this and recruit a greater number of people skiled under this Framework.

The Minister also observed that not only is there a shortage of skilled manpower, there is also a shortage of trainers. 

According to Mr. Pramod Bhasin, Chairman, CII National Committee on Skills Development and Chairman, The Skills Academy and Founder, Genpact stated that if we could build an army of skilled people, we could conquer any market in the world. He pointed out that the India has the world’s greatest wealth in terms of having 25% - 30% of the global workforce. The need of the hour was to improve the overall skill levels as well as the employability of the person. He also stated that there was a need to certify people in the unorganized sector who have the requisite skills but not the necessary certification.

Earlier, welcoming the participants, Ms. ShobanaKamineni, Vice President, CII stated that CII’s theme for the year was “Building National Competitiveness”. As a part of this, building social competitiveness formed a major plank and that is where skilling comes in.

New Delhi

April 4, 2016