‘Acquiring skills with the help of technology is the way forward’

For over 40 years, S Ramadorai has been associated with Tata Sons. Today, as the Chairman of the National Skills Development Agency (NSDA), the Padma Bhushan awardee is focussing on helping the country upscale its skills pool. Ramadorai, who is also the Vice-Chairman of Tata Consultancy Services, feels technology has a big role to play in helping people harness their skills, and coordinating skill development efforts spread across 20 Ministries, 35 State Governments, Union Territories, and the private sector. Excerpts:

Is stressing on skillsets a good idea in a scenario when there aren’t many jobs to absorb the skilled?

First, we have to recognise that doing something with your own hands will always stand you in good stead, even simple things such as cooking and plumbing. We tend to underestimate the importance of doing simple things assuming someone else will do it for us, but when we look for that somebody and do not find that person, then there’s a problem. All I am saying is that some skill is good, so follow your ability to do something. Only then can you become an entrepreneur, an employer, or an employee.

At the same time, technology is equally necessary. Nowadays, skills can be picked up through the broadband network, irrespective of age. That is the kind of thing we (NSDA) are looking at.

Many skilled youth end up working for BPOs. Is this good for the country?

That’s exactly what NSDA is trying to tackle by having a labour market information system where we let you know the possibilities that exist for you in your part of the world. Say in agriculture, we give information on modern methods of farming to increase the yield, harvesting technology and seed availability. We have mapped 29 sector skill councils.

Suppose you are a gem and jewellery exporter. Today, you can design on the computer and can relate to the rest of the world through the digital medium. We give such information to people to help them make a choice, and technology plays a big role in this.

NSDA provides information, helps people in selecting their skill sets, gives training and certification. But how do you assess the outcome?

The only outcome is employability and employment, or becoming an entrepreneur. Of every partner that we have funded, the minimum employability is 70 per cent. But the minimum duration of employment is also critical and going forward, we will also track the wages that these people get…Everything needs to be tracked. Training someone who is not going to get a job will not work. People will get restless. An unemployed, unskilled person is better than a skilled, unemployed person. That is why demand and supply mismatches have to be corrected.

Also, parents need to be educated about the value of opportunities that are available. People can try something for two to three years and not like it. What is wrong with that? Try something else. This age-fixation is wrong…you have to do 12{+t}{+h} by the age of 17, get married by 23, retire at a particular age... I feel life-long learning is a good thing. Also, one must be able to deal with multiple disciplines. Specialisation can always be done as you go up.

COMMENT NOW