Pradhan tells industry to invest in skill development of India's manpower

New Delhi, Sep 27 (PTI) Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday called upon the industry to invest in training and skill development of India's workforce, asserting that a collective effort of policy makers, academia and industry is imperative to promote skill and education.

Addressing the Global Skills Summit organised by Ficci, the Minister for Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said "one can only clap with two hands not one", implying that the industry needs to do more towards skill development of the workforce.

"I am witnessing less industry participation here. I am seeing training partners and beneficiaries, but where is the industry?" Pradhan asked.

He said the Centre was spending a huge sum to roll out various incentives to make India the manufacturing hub of the world but it will only be possible when the country has a skilled manpower, and therefore, the industry also needs to come forth.

"Why is the government introducing various reforms like PLI (Production Linked Incentive scheme)? We are spending lakhs of crores per sector because we want to make India the manufacturing hub of the world.

"All this will only be possible when we have a skilled manpower. The government is giving you (industry) various kinds of incentives and also spending substantially on skilling and building training capacity. The industry should also come forward in a similar fashion," said the minister.

Besides, he shared that the government will soon come up with a framework for digital universities.

"National Education Policy 2020 envisions skill and education as one. We are coming up with digital university with multiple entry and exit frameworks along with academic bank of credit to facilitate our workforce. The industry needs to adopt these policy reforms and flexible frameworks," he added.

Highlighting the advantages of India in the next 25 years, Pradhan said that there is no other nation in the world that has such huge captive, aspirational and high purchasing capacity.

India's domestic fundamentals are very strong and despite Covid, Indian economy maintained 7-8 per cent growth rate and is moving towards double-digit growth, he asserted.

There is a need for leveraging skills to boost employability, reap demographic dividend and make the country's skill ecosystem more vibrant, said the minister.

"For India to be more productive and robust, we must make our workforce more educated and skilled. The simplification of labour codes and apprenticeship act has added more vibrancy to our workforce. We are bringing in more reforms to make our workforce more productive," emphasised Pradhan. PTI RSN HVA