NSDC seeks to further enhance skill development initiatives

Updated on: Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) is looking to expand the number of Sector Skill Councils in the country and offer more regional and specialised training programmes as part of the government's plans to train 500 million youth across the country by 2022.

"We have so far approved eight Sector Skill Councils and the target is to take the number to 20 by next fiscal. Each of these councils would be dedicated to creating skill development in specialised areas," NSDC Managing Director and CEO Dilip Chenoy said here.

Speaking with PTI on the sidelines of the CII North-East Skill Conclave 2012, Chenoy said the policies announced by the government in the upcoming General Budget would go a long-way toward deciding the way forward on skill development in the
country.

"You can talk of skill development, entrepreneurship and job creation only when there is a good economic growth. Thus, the policy measures announced in the Budget are of crucial importance," he said.

The NSDC, formed in 2009, is a joint venture between the government and industrial associations for developing skilled workers.

"So far, in the last two-and-a-half years, our focus was on creating capacity, knowledge creation and setting up Sector Skill Councils. Next year, review the entire operation done and the results achieved till then and then plan how to go ahead with the next phase of large-scale skill development," Chenoy said.

He said the second phase will involve going for regional and sector-specific training programmes in a big way.

The government plans to train over 500 million youth by 2022, of which 150 million will be through private sector initiatives. The rest will be trained under various initiatives spearheaded by 17 ministries of the government.

Besides providing funds to encourage training by the private sector, the NSDC also funds entrepreneurs with soft loans up to 75 per cent of the total project cost.

As part of its efforts, NSDC has been undertaking 25-30 projects every fiscal with a view to impart training in various sectors like hospitality, financial services, IT/ITeS and agro-business.

"We will also soon start district-level surveys to gather data on skill lag. We have completed such a study in the eight northeastern states and now we plan to take up Bihar and then the rest of the country. By March, we will have finished such studies, which tries to find out the gap in skill requirement, in at least 14 states," Chenoy said.

The 'Skill Gaps Study of North East' was released during the event. It found that while 2.6 million job opportunities will be created in the northeastern states by 2021, the supply of human resources for jobs will far exceed local demand.

This will leave 14.2 million people with formal or informal qualifications without jobs.

"The surplus human resources that remain after filling in job demand from within the region will be the target group for skilling for migration," the report said, adding that even now, a lot of people from the region are migrating to major urban centres like the Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Bangalore.

Chenoy said state governments and the private sector will have to make efforts to productively employ such skilled people in local areas, not only in the North-East, but across the country.

NSDC was set up under the Centre's 11th Five-Year Plan with the objective of creating a pool of skilled people in line with the requirement of the industry, trade and service sectors. It received seed capital of Rs 1,000 crore from the government at the time of formation.

So far, it has approved funding proposals to the tune of Rs 1,150 crore for 46 projects. The body had also tied up with a number of leading private sector giants, including Bharti Enterprises and Future Group, for training the youth.

NSDC seeks to further enhance skill development initiatives

More Education news