Need For Skilled Labourers For A Stronger And Better India

India is a young country where 70% of the population will be of the working age by 2025. This is in sharp contrast to the other developed countries where the population will be older and beyond the working age. Moreover, India will require more than 119 million skilled workers in the handloom, automobile, logistics and transportation sector by 2022. Moreover, NSDC has said that every sector excepting agriculture will need skilled workers. While this means more jobs for the youth of India, it can equally be a recipe for disaster if the population is not trained and made skillful enough to be worthy of the available jobs.

Sectors Necessitating Skilled Labourers In India

In India, there are innumerable sectors that are in dire need of skilled workforce. The need in case of every sector varies and it is 900,000 by media & entertainment, 3.9 million by auto & auto component, 6.14 million by handlooms & handicraft, 6.48 million by tourism, hospitality and travel, 7.18 million by furniture and furnishing, 10.09 million by beauty & wellness, 11.66 million by transportation and logistics, 17.3 million by retail and 31.13 million by building, construction & real estate. However, at present skilled labourers account for only 2% of the total labour force and in the coming years, it is set to take on a gigantic proportion.

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana

The present Prime Minister of India, Shri. Narendra Modi has understood the extreme necessity of skilled labourers in India and consequently has undertaken the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana in collaboration with the various skill development institutes of the country. Moreover, the Indian government has taken serious note of the skill related statistics and as Shri. Rajiv Pratap Rudy, the minister for skills development & entrepreneurship had said, "The idea behind the skill gap studies is to understand the sectors in which we are likely to face the biggest gaps. It is imperative for us to plan the skilling of future workforce of India on the basis of these reports."

Utilization Of Valuable Skill

In India, only skill development is not enough, rather the skill has to be utilized properly so that the country can gain from it fruitfully. At present, there is the need for more than 100 million skilled people. Sadly, the supply is highly insufficient which is a bad omen for India as a whole. Former Prime Minister Shri. Manmohan Singh had summed by the situation succinctly in the words, ‘As our economy booms and as our industry grows, I hear a pressing complaint about an imminent shortage of skilled employees. As a country endowed with huge human resources, we cannot let this be a constraint’

Constraints To Skill Development In India

While the intention of the Government of India is good, there are some reasons why the initiatives are suffering setbacks. First and foremost is the need to clear class VIII to enroll in the vocational courses which is mostly not possible for the illiterate or less educated populace who really need the skill development. Secondly, there is coordination problem between the central and state government that results in wide variation between the policy-making and implementation phrases of skill training.

Contribution Of Sliem Skills To Skill Development

One of the first and foremost names that come to our mind when it comes to private players in the skill development sector is Sliem Skills. This Salt Lake, Kolkata based institute has various tie-ups, partnerships and affiliations from government endorsed projects that have come up a long way in skilling up the youth of the country.