India targets 500 mn skilled workers by 2022: Rajiv Pratap Rudy

Says the biggest challenge remains to be the dearth of trainers and poor infrastructure

India is aiming at creating a resource pool of 500 million skilled workers by 2022, but the biggest challenge remains to be the dearth of trainers and poor infrastructure, said Union Minister of state for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy today.

He was speaking at the launch of India's biggest social entrepreneurship platform for women, Sandesh One.

Sandesh One is a novel public-private partnership (PPP) initiative of the Kerala State Women's Development Corporation (KSWDC), in partnership with IL&FS Skills and Alterneit, to train women entrepreneurs and help them set up micro enterprises by offering technologies and solutions.

Rudy said despite the increase in the size of the labour force in India, only two per cent have undergone any skill training.

He noted while target in the XII Five-Year Plan was to train 50 million workers by 2016, an additional 450 million would be trained between 2017 and 2022. The minister said the country had been able to impart training to only 16 million due to lack of trainers and inadequate training infrastructure.

"India has a great opportunity to meet the future demands of the world and become a global sourcing hub for skilled workforce," he said.

Chief minister Oommen Chandy said the pioneering women-centred initiatives, ranging from Kudumbashree to She Taxi, have brought Kerala laurels both within the country and internationally, and said 'Sandesh One' had the promise to join the ranks of the earlier successes.

The project intends to establish Sandesh One centres in more than 1,000 local bodies in the state, to be managed by women, trained in an IIM Ahmedabad certification programme in entrepreneurship with a curriculum custom-developed by IL&FS Skills.

The project offer selected women a six-month residential training programme focussing on developing and improving entrepreneurial skills and knowledge management. The individuals will additionally go through a product orientation programme to get familiarised with the products and services offered by the Sandesh One network.

Some of the working areas are precision farming, advanced fish breeding, high density plantation, renewable energy, preventive healthcare applications, clinics, and programmes for promoting activity based life.

These projects are capable of generating massive employment, fostering socio-economic development among others.

In the phase-I, the project will be launched in the districts of Kannur, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Alappuzha and Kottayam.

Dilip H Chenoy, CEO and managing director of National Skill Development Corporation, noted India has the lowest women work force participation rate among the BRICS countries. In partnering with projects like Sandesh One and Additional Skill Acquisition Programme (ASAP) and institutions such as the Kerala Academy of Skill Excellence, the NSDC would achieve empowering women and youth in the country.

"More than ten unique and innovative projects that are capable of transforming the society have been proposed in the phase-I of the project, PTM Sunish, managing director of KSWDC said.