Branding of Indian labour force

Aakriti Singh on January 5th, 2015

India is expected to be home to a skilled workforce of 500 million by 2022. About 12 million persons are expected to join the workforce every year. Till October ’14,the national skill development agency (NSDA) has been able to provide skill training to 31.52% of targeted population of about 10 million persons. In the backdrop, we have the Skill India initiative launched by the current government aims to train the youth with an emphasis on employment and entrepreneur skills.

The bandwagon of Make in India has got a new catchphrase-First Develop India (FDI), which intends to channelize Foreign Investments into national development, the overarching objective of the current NDA government. This requires skills and knowledge which are the driving forces of economic growth and social development for any country. Countries with higher and better levels of skills adjust more effectively to the challenges and opportunities of world of work. Potentially, the target group for skill development comprises all those in the labour force, including those entering the labour market for the first time employed in the organized sector and those working in the unorganized sector.

Being said that, an approach towards this direction on pan India level requires a lot of backend developments in the country. Among the many challenges facing skill development, a key one is about finding quality technical trainers to impart skills to youngsters. Another issue with mobilisation of youth is providing residential facilities to them. This will also question the housing facilities available to rural youth with limited skills that have migrated to urban areas. The skill sets are limited and there is a need to expand the skill areas. Another challenge in skill development is to put together infrastructure and to link it with employment.

These challenges shouldn’t come in way of building India’s economic growth. Looking from policy perspective, ‘MAKE IN INDIA’ will no doubt increase job opportunities but a matching skill set is required to produce quality products of world standards.