Corporates need to take ownership, participate in skills development: Jayant Chaudhary

New Delhi: Skill development and entrepreneurship minister Jayant Chaudhary on Thursday urged India Inc to take "ownership" and participate in apprenticeship and skill development programmes in the country.

"There is a need for partnership or ownership from industry, including corporates," he said while addressing the Deloitte Government Summit. He said the government alone cannot create a skilled labour force.

"Companies in India need to do a lot more lifting (in terms of skill development programmes). Corporates and industry have to come forward and take ownership for skilling the labour force," he said. "Also, effort is needed at the state government level. The government cannot think and act as fast as the industry. So there needs to be some partnership on this. In fact, we are open to certifying the industry curriculum and adopting it, if they follow best practices."


According to Chaudhary, with GST levelling out taxation, states will now have to compete with each other on "providing the most efficient labour markets". The budget has earmarked ₹60,000 crore for skilling and upgradation of industrial training institutes (ITIs) to impart skills training to two million students in five years.