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As a guest faculty at the Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad (IIM-A), former president Pranab Mukherjee has stressed on the need for skill upgradation to strengthen India's workforce and reap demographic bonus.
Addressing the last of a series of lectures for the course 'Public Policy for Inclusive Development of India' under the aegis of the JSW School of Public Policy at IIM-A here on Saturday, Mukherjee expressed concern on 'wastage' of India's talent by not adequately tapping opportunities in research and innovation.
The median age of India’s 1.3 billion-strong population is 32 years - a good 10 years lower than most other nations in the world. "It is predicted that India will experience 'demographic bonus', where the growth rate of the working population would exceed that of the total population until 2020. Today, demographic dividend is on the verge of becoming a demographic disaster unless quick remedial measures are taken. We must recognise that the demographic dividend can only be reaped if the young population is provided higher education and training in vocational skills," Mukherjee said in his lecture titled 'Articulating Policy and Institutional Agenda for Future Transformation of India'.
Mukherjee delivered his first lecture on September 19, focusing on various aspects of the Indian economy and policy, with historical references to ancient Indian "open society". Unlike previous lectures, the last lecture was open to the public on Saturday.
Quoting data from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), he said, India would have 116 million workers in the working age bracket of 20 to 24 years by 2020, as compared to China's 94 million. India would become the largest individual contributor to global demographic transition, with the working population (ages 15-64) set to reach 869 million by 2020.
"We need to provide sound training to our youth to build capacity. It will help prepare them for challenging job roles in the global economic community. They have to be encouraged to develop the aptitude to think ahead," he added.
The former president also referred to 'first class institutions' such as IITs and NITs, among others, to inculcate a spirit of research and innovation.
"There are more than 36,000 degree colleges in the country. And they are producing excellent graduates. All our graduates from IITs get first-class managerial jobs at multinational companies in the penultimate year of their programmes. I have no grudge against them getting good jobs. But how many of these students devote their energies and talents for research and innovation," Mukherjee said, raising concerns on lack of attention towards core areas of research and innovation.
Before Mukherjee, former president APJ Abdul Kalam was also a guest faculty at IIM-A.
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