Ramadorai PM's advisor on skill development

Tata Consultancy Services’ vice-chairman, S Ramadorai, has been appointed Advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on skill development. His rank will be equivalent to a cabinet minister.

The National Skill Development Council has been operating as a three-tier structure, with the apex council chaired by the PM. A coordination unit is chaired by the deputy chairman, Planning Commission, and a National Skill Development Corporation located in the finance ministry is focusing on supporting the private sector.

Ramadorai will continue on the TCS board in his non-executive capacity. “This is not a full-time government job and is similar to what Sam Pitroda does as head of the Knowledge Commission,” said a source.

After retiring as MD & CEO of TCS in 2009, Ramadorai has joined the boards of several other companies. He is also chairman of the Bombay Stock Exchange. TCS is India’s largest information technology services company and Ramadorai was MD for 15 years. He made it a $6-billion global software and services company, with 144,000 highly trained professionals.

A World Economic Forum report released recently had analysed talent shortages across countries and industry sectors.