After 9 years of Skill India Scheme

In view of the shortage of skilled and skilled manpower in the country under the National Skill Development Mission, the Prime Minister inaugurated the 'Skill India Mission' on July 15, 2015, on the occasion of the first World Youth Skills Day. This scheme is now ten years old. Skills and knowledge play a decisive role in the economic growth and social development of any nation. Due to the efforts of the Central Government, in the last 9 years, in the direction of promoting skill training in the country, there has been an increase of about 24% in the Skill Industrial Training Centres (ITIs). While there were 11,847 ITIs in the year 2014, their number has increased to 14,747 in 2022. Not only this, more than 4 lakh seats have been added in these ITIs since 2018. In the general budget of the financial year 2023-24, it has been announced to start the fourth phase of Skill India. Last year, The World Bank's board of executive directors approved the $250 million Skill India Mission Operation (SIMO), which will improve the marketability of short-term skill development programs (3-12 months or up to 600 hours) at the national and state levels.

What's lacking:

In the last three years, the world has gone through many rapid changes. Every area went online from offline and is now again running through both offline-online system. These sweeping changes have forced people to adopt and seek new skills. By 2025, an estimated 70% of the population in India will be in the working age group. But whether they will get employment is a big question. Skill development of young generation is a national necessity and this is the foundation of self-reliant India, failing which this demographic advantage will become a challenge in itself. Today there is a huge mismatch between the number of candidates trained, certified and finally placed.

According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), India may face a shortage of around 29 million skilled personnel by 2030. India's education sector ranks 39th out of 67 countries in the IMD World Competitiveness Rankings 2024, with only 40% of all graduates considered employable. We also lag behind in terms of intelligence (IQ). India ranks 96th in the world with an average IQ of 77, while China ranks fifth with an IQ of 104. On one hand companies in India are facing acute shortage of skilled workforce and on the other hand, there are lakhs of educated unemployed in the country. India is ranked 134 out of 193 countries in the Human Development Index of UNDP, which is a matter of concern.

Required Future skills

To be a truly strong economy, the country needs to have a long-term and meaningful level of skill-based knowledge system that powers the economy. Currently, only 45% of the trained persons in India are employable and only 4.69% of the workforce is available with vocational training, indicating that there is a huge skill gap in the country. In the coming times, 25% of the global working population will come from India. In such a situation, until we do not skill, re-skill and up-skill our young demography, we will not be able to discharge our global responsibilities. According to a study, more than 67% of fresh graduates in India struggle with their placements due to inefficiency. It is crucial that young people receive training in courses based on coding, AI, robotics, IoT, 3D printing, and drones as the use of AI spreads across all industries today. Today's youth must be prepared for life, not just for the workplace. There is a need to display your talent wherever there is opportunity in the world.

Things that need to be done:

India can certainly become the skill capital of the world, but not from what it is doing now. Global skill gap mapping needs to be done from time to time as well as recruitment for jobs in India should shift from "degree-based" to "skill-based". Currently, there are at least 20 different government bodies running skill development programs in India, with little to no coordination and a lot of similarity in work. The recommendations given by the Sharda Prasad Committee (2016) have to be implemented diligently. Also, market and industry have to play a big role in determining the syllabus, curriculum and relevance. Today India needed National Skills University (NSU) as proposed in the National Skills Universities Bill 2015. This university will have pan-Indian jurisdiction and will be modelled after the Indira Gandhi National Open University. This would ensure that education and the development of skills continue to go hand in hand, which is a key recommendation of the National Skill Policy 2015 that was released in 2015.

The more intellectual property is created, the more employment will be created on a large scale. The country will never become developed by giving free food grains to 81 crore people. Our policy makers should look at this population of 81 crores as a major human resource. The fundamental question is why do we have to give free food grains to these people? The government has to understand that this huge human capital can be empowered with knowledge and skills. A skilled and educated labour force takes the country to a higher growth rate. Skills and education are one area where investment has multiple impacts. When the workforce becomes more efficient, then the pace of economic development will get boosted, social evils will reduce and women will also be safe, resulting in rapid development of the country.

The National Education Policy (2020) will have to make sincere efforts in this direction on practical ground, this will also be the basis of its evaluation. Investing in skill development is even more important at a time when skill development is a major concern globally. It is the need of the hour to invest the money of various 'Rewdi Scheme' running in the country and the state in the skill sector. It is true that the government may not be able to fund all the projects, so it is imperative for big corporate houses to identify and channelize their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) money in the skilling sector.

Dr. Brajesh Kumar Tiwari,  Associate Professor, Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Management and Entrepreneurship, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi.

The views expressed are personal.  @bkt_brajesh