FM146;s mega plan for 145;Skilled India146; ready

The National Skill Development Corporation, an ambitious government initiative to create a humongous...

The National Skill Development Corporation NSDC, an ambitious government initiative to create a humongous talent pool catering to sectors with high growth and high employment potential, may soon get funding support from UK8217;s Gordon Brown and Germany8217;s Angela Merkel governments besides the doyens of India Inc.

Finance minister P Chidambaram is scheduled to meet industry captains on Tuesday to seek India Inc8217;s organisational and funding support for the venture, conceived as a private sector-led initiative. NSDC, incorporated as a not-for-profit company, will aim to turn India8217;s mammoth 260-million young but unskilled workforce into an employable talent pool.

The government has already promised to chip in with Rs 1,000 crore over the next couple of years for a 49 per cent stake in the company. The balance 51 per cent will be contributed by either companies or industry organisations in 10 specific sectors identified as holding bright prospects for growth and employment. The scale of the project is phenomenal, given that the investment requirement for training India8217;s vast workforce is estimated to be Rs 15,000 crore .

The 10 high-growth, high employment industries selected are automobiles, construction, electronics hardware, leather and leather goods, textiles, healthcare, hospitality, engineering, biotechnology and gems and jewellery.

After several rounds of consultations, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the finance minister is now ready with a detailed concept note on NSDC. In a nutshell, NSDC will not only help create the infrastructure for training by promoting institutions, but also assure placements by the industry.

To make NSDC a viable business model, it has been proposed to set up a 8216;job guarantee fund8217; into which will accrue fees charged by the company for supplying skilled workforce to prospective employers. The fund will be used by NSDC to repay loans taken by prospective training institutes for imparting skills.

In fact, finance secretary D Subbarao told The Indian Express that besides seeking bilateral funds from the UK and Germany, the government has also initiated informal discussions with multilateral institutions. Indian corporates of repute are likely to invest in the venture for which they will be given board membership in NSDC.

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The government is now close to appointing a chairman for the NSDC to take the whole idea forward in corporate style.

YOUNG, UNSKILLED INDIA

Labour force 400 million

Addition every year 13 million

What8217;s special about it?

8226;Almost 65 per cent or 260 million is in the 15-29 years age group

8226; Economists call it India8217;s 8216;demographic dividend8217; that can become a curse if left unskilled

Middle 038; higher level education: 94.38 mn

Illiterate: 100.88 mn

Primary education: 64.74 mn

Total: 260 mn

26 million or 10 of the young workforce receive some kind of training. In the developed world, the corresponding figure is 60-96

Can india train its workforce?

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8226;India has the capacity to train only 3.4 million workers every year, or just about a fourth of the annual addition to the labour market. This is again restricted to 150 trades

8226; The government wants to increase training capacity five-fold to 15 million workers a year and expand training expertise to 1,000 trades.