‘There is huge demand for entry-level skilled labour’

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) was created in May 2014 to meet the target of skilling and upskilling 500 million youth by 2022. The challenges are many, especially with the economy growing at a little over 7 per cent, but job creation slow at about 1.1 per cent, as per a government survey. However, MSDE Minister (Independent Charge) Rajiv Pratap Rudy disagrees. Satisfied with his Ministry’s achievements in “just two-and-a-half years”, Rudy, 55, says entry-level demand for skilled workforce is “huge’ in services and industrial manufacturing, “and we are unable to cope up with it.” Edited excerpts from an interview with BusinessLine :

What have been the key achievements of your Ministry so far?

We have to realise that this Ministry is just two-and-a-half years old. All the other Ministries were established, and just had to improve.

We had to create something new, including setting up an office and making policies. We now have a National Skill Policy, the National Skill Mission, which is chaired by the Prime Minister, and also a number of schemes, such as Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme, Yuva and Sankalp.

In skilling, getting funds is not the only problem, spending is also an issue. The mechanism to implement schemes had to be created. Then we needed officers, and got the UPSC to appoint the Indian Skill Development Service for the first time.

Convergence was also a challenge, as earlier, there were 23 ministries and 50-odd departments that were skilling. We had to come up with a common framework and norms for training, and the National Skills Qualification Framework.

There are two verticals under skilling. One is short-term, which is for drop-outs and non-organised workers, which is done by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), in both paid and non-paid modules. The second is long-term skilling by ITIs, which were earlier under the Labour Ministry.

About 2.3 million students are enrolled in ITIs. We created a policy where with the existing ITI education, students can later go for traditional education. All these years, these children had been denied this opportunity. So a drop-out can now dream of becoming an engineering graduate.

But isn’t there a problem of placements at a time when job creation is slow?

I am completely in disagreement with this. We train gardeners, drivers, chefs and beauticians. Where is it captured in the labour force survey? Only jobs in the organised sector and corporate and government sectors get reflected. These beauticians go to their village, set up shop and employ three more girls. So they, too, are generating jobs.

The demand of the industry, both in services and industrial manufacturing, at the entry level, is huge, and we are unable to cope with it. I used to use the NSSO (National Sample Survey Office) data that said just 2.5 per cent of the Indian workforce was skilled, compared with 96 per cent in South Korea and 74 per cent in Germany. But when I sought the yardstick used by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, I found they did not include ITIs and nursing students, or those such as chefs, beauty technicians etc. They did not have a definition of skills. I believe the sample collection needs a correction. Job profiles have changed and self-employment is the largest employer.

Are you satisfied with the private sector’s involvement in skilling?

The Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) and the NSDC (set up with private partnership) were created with the idea that industry has to partner and train the workforce it requires. They have moved a bit, but not as much as required. The Ministry has sorted out the issues where there was a distinct disconnect in the policies at the Centre and the States. States are also coming on board on skills.

You had spoken earlier of setting up skill centres in all tribal districts?

We have benchmarked what is skilling. We have commissioned 160 PM Kaushal Kendras in various constituencies. Our target is to take this to 400 by the middle of next year. We will specifically focus on tribal areas.

How has the skilling programme Udaan for Jammu and Kashmir youth worked out?

Four schemes are not under MSDE, including Udaan and Hunar. Udaan is run by the Ministry of Home Affairs. It had its own issues. Bringing them (students) out and allowing them to adapt and then get absorbed was slightly difficult. But I believe the scheme has done well. PMKVY centres are up and running in Srinagar also.

Is any action being taken on the Sharda Prasad committee report (The panel had slammed the Centre’s skill development scheme and suggested a merger of a majority of 40 SSCs running skill development centres to half their numbers)?

That is an issue under discussion. Some of the SSCs have done very well, but a few have not performed. We are planning some restructuring. The report has been put in public domain; when the final analysis comes, we will see what to do. We support SSCs. It will be done in about three months.

Placement of female candidates is also seen as a challenge.

Some sectors are doing very well, like textiles. But how much can the government do? We train people, certify them and place them. Industry also needs to come forward. The numbers are huge, and the whole economy has to fine-tune itself for such a change.

What are your future focus areas?

The whole ecosystem is in place, and now it is time to create an accountable delivery mechanism and see the outcomes of the process. For example, in PMKVY, there was a provision for franchisees, which was misused. We are overhauling it. So we are learning as we go.

What are your plans for ITIs?

We provided a logo for ITIs; they also have online examinations.

Now, we will completely reform…the draft has been prepared and will be notified in one month. The new ITIs will be of the quality and substance of IITs, CBSE schools and Kendriya Vidyalayas.

We are also working to ensure that ITIs that do not fulfil the norms, change or perish. We have introduced a system of self-grading and have given them an online check-list. Over 2,600 ITIs have come on the portal, of which 80 per cent have graded themselves at three stars. We will now verify them, and incentivise the good ones with financial support.

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