New Delhi: On the occasion of World Youth Skills Day, Vedanta announces that nearly 15 lakh people across India have been skilled through its skill development initiatives in the past 5 years. Focusing on rural communities near its operations, these programs are helping bridge the gap between unskilled and semi-skilled youths. Aligned with the Government of India’s Skill India Mission and Kaushal Bharat Abhiyaan, Vedanta’s skilling initiatives provide rural youth secure jobs by gaining market-relevant skills and entrepreneurship, thereby enabling youths to enter the socio-economic mainstream through sustainable livelihood opportunities.
Vedanta’s skill development programs are closely aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals 8, namely, Decent Work and Economic Growth. They are designed and deployed in close partnership with leading knowledge providers. This is in line with the company’s aim to empower 25 lakh people with enhanced skillsets by 2030.
Vedanta’s skilling & training centres footprint goes beyond 200 centres across India with more than 40 technical and non-technical trades offered to the youth including solar technicians, forklift operations, hospitality, sewing, finance, etc. The company’s skilling centres have a 91 per cent placement rate with an average salary of Rs 15,000.
According to the Ministry for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, among persons aged 15-29, only about 2 per cent have received formal vocational training, and 8 per cent have received non-formal vocational training in India. This suggests that very few new entrants to the workforce in this age group have any marketable skills. Comparative data for developed economies show that in Korea, 96 per cent of the population has received formal vocational training while in Germany, it is 75 per cent, in Japan it is 80 per cent, and in the United Kingdom, it is 68 per cent.
Vedanta Group Chairman Anil Agarwal has repeatedly stressed on the need to reap this demographic dividend which is expected to last for the next 25 years. In a recent tweet, Anil Agarwal wrote, “…out of the 20 largest economies in the world, India has the youngest population. According to World Population Review, the average Indian is just 28.7 years old and 50% are younger than that. This is a huge advantage. Let’s invest in our youngsters, women and men, girls and boys. They will be world beaters.”