Centre to unveil skill development policy by April

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Centre will roll out a 'National Skill Development' policy by April to meet the increasing demand for skilled workforce in various sectors, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy said here today.

"There is a revived zeal and demand for skilled workforce in the country. Skill development and entrepreneurship have become buzz words. Our new skill development policy will be in place by this March-April," Rudy said during the launch of Kerala government's ambitious "Sandesh One" project seeking to promote social enterprises.

Stating that one of the biggest challenges faced by the country was not the absence of skill but the lack of a proper mechanism to train and certify the workforce, he said, an internationally accepted training and certification system should be evolved to create skilled manpower.

"There has to be a concrete syllabus to train our manpower. Besides training and certification, we should also be able to give assurance to skilled people that they will be employed," he said.

"If the percentage of skilled people among the total workforce in UK is 70 per cent, it is 75 per cent in Germany, 80 per cent in Japan and 96 per cent in South Korea. But in India, it is just two per cent. This should be changed as the Centre wants the country to have the largest workforce in the world," Rudy said.

Earlier, launching the programme, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said this was the first of its kind public-private partnership social enterprise initiated by the State Women's Development Corporation (KSWDC) in association with IL & FS Skills and Alterneit.

Chandy said "Sandesh One" would bring about a revolutionary change in grassroot level society and help transform women as successful and knowledgeable individuals.

State Minister for Panchayats and Social Justice M K Muneer and P K Sreemathi MP were also present.