NAC plans to send workers abroad

The National Academy of Construction (NAC), which is into training unskilled and semi-skilled workers mainly to support the state government's weaker section housing programme, is proposing to send construction workers to the Middle East and other countries from this year onwards.

Addressing a press conference, C T Chari, NAC director-general, said the academy had been granted licence to export human resources by the Union ministry of overseas affairs last month.

According to him, NAC is planning to send 300 construction workers overseas this year.

NAC has been accredited by the Director General of Employment and Training for conducting tests and issuing certificates to skilled and semi-skilled workers who generally require to prove their qualification in their respective skills in construction field such as masonry, bar bending, plumbing, welding, and carpentry.

Commenting on the status of the available manpower in the construction industry, Chari said most of them knew what to do but not how to do.

"This is a grave situation given the employment opportunities available both in India and abroad," he said, adding that the annual value of the construction industry in the country alone stood at Rs 3 lakh crore.

Besides conducting high-end courses like postgraduate diploma in facility management, NAC is conducting livelihood training programmes in 39 trades related to construction.

The academy, which also has two regional training centres at Kadapa and Rajahmundry, has so far set up livelihood training centres in 17 districts to train manpower in view of the state government's plans to construct 50 lakh houses for poor families under Indiramma (integrated development in rural areas and model municipal areas) in the next three years.

NAC has trained over 3,000 workers at these district-level centres under the livelihood programme with the support of the state government as well as construction companies and corporate-led NGOs.

The academy estimates that over 20,000 workers are required to be trained to meet the housing demand for which it seeks funding support from private players.

This initiative is also expected to boost the employment opportunities for local construction workers abroad. Chari said over 10 lakh workers from India found employment in the Middle East and other countries last year alone.