Moving towards a more progressive and skilled India, says Rudy

As India began Independence Day celebrations, we together were moving towards a more progressive, self-sufficient and skilled India, Union Minister of State for skill development and entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy said. 

The minister has also expressed his vision of #BeSkilledBeIndependent. He also said that “This accelerated economic growth has increased the demand for skilled workers that has highlighted the shortage of skilled workforce in the country.”

The minister also urged the country to fight and to bring about the silent revolution through its focus on skill development.

“Skill development is fundamental for improving productivity. And productivity leads to improved living standards and growth. When we talk about improving living standards it reflects on maximizing opportunities for pro-poor employment growth, enabling environment for sustainable enterprise development, an open social dialogue where there is respect for all and planned investments in basic education, health and physical infrastructure,” Rudy said on the eve of Independence Day.

Capacity building and quality standards have started receiving greater attention. Industry has also been given a bigger role in shaping the skills story through its involvement not just with curriculum development and setting of standards but also in the assessment and certification processes. Moreover, measures have been taken to increase financial accessibility to skill-training initiatives.

The current target of skill development programme in India in itself is quite an ambitious number. In 2015-16, we trained 1.04 crore youth in the country which was 37 per cent more than what was achieved in the previous year.

Also the overhaul in the ITI ecosystem which was not capitalised on till now,  that will extend opportunities for all in multiple trades where human resource is required in the country, the minister claimed.

But the real analysis or breakup of this number lies in the exercise where the government does a district-level mapping. On the other hand, there are varieties of reasons for the youth’s inability to fill jobs that are made available to them, ranging from geographical mobility to low wages which may not help them meet their ends. Overall, it’s a huge task.