India’s population is expanding at a stupendous rate of 17% and its working population is projected to be a major player in the global economy. India is relatively a younger nation compared to its neighbours, with the proportion of the workforce in the age group of 15-59 years, increasing steadily. India has a great opportunity to meet the future demands of the world, and can become the hub for skilled workforce. However, only 2% of the total workforce has undergone skill development training. As per an assessment conducted by the National Sample Survey Office, India’s unemployment rate was at a forty-five year high of 6.1% in the year 2018. The country was already reeling under economic slowdown when the COVID pandemic hit. The pandemic has completely disrupted the economic landscape of the nation. 

The country faces grave challenges, as it needs to train more than a million plus workforce ready population. This challenge magnifies when coupled with the inherent socio-economic disparities, and increasing migration of labour from agriculture to manufacturing and services. The realisation of this ‘demographic dividend’ or the young workforce led to the formulation of the “National Skills Policy” in 2009 which set a target of imparting skills training to 500 million, by 2022. 

Skill development is a major area of focus that spans across all sectors of the economy. From agriculture to services and manufacturing, presence of a skilled labour force is an essential and mandatory requirement to spin the wheels of the growth engine of India’s economy. The key stakeholders in skills development are the Government, Academia, Labour, and the Industry (private and public ranging from service to manufacturing sectors). 

Growth and productivity as part of the value chain in any sector will boost and significantly contribute to national economic growth and attract FDI inflows. Taking cognizance of the skill gap, the Government of India had set up Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and schemes under its purview such as Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), Skill India, SANKALP and National Skill Development Mission etc. Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) were also set up under the purview of National Skill Development Corporation to bridge the skilling gap between what the industry demands and what the skilling requirements ought to be. SSCs have been set up across various sectors such as automobiles, retail, security services, food processing and so on, to bring together all the stakeholders on to one platform.

Fiinovation, partnered with Skill Council For Green Jobs (SCGJ), a not for profit society created by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, for the impact assessment of Solar PV Installer (Suryamitra) training programme. Suryamitra training programme is a part of PMKVY and is supported by MNRE (through National Institute of Solar Energy), and aims to train undergraduates, ITI/diploma holders as field technicians for installation, operation and maintenance to execute National Solar Mission (NSM) programmes across the country. Fiinovation, sampled 1500 trainees from 11 sample states of Assam, NCT Delhi, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. The impact analysis was the first ever done for the Suryamitra training programme since it was rolled out in the year 2015. The study summarised that the training programme proved beneficial, as 95% of the trainees and 78% of the trainers reported improved technical skills and knowledge post the training. Also, out of the total trainees sampled for the study, 88% of them reported that the training programme benefited them by increasing their income and improving job opportunities.

India needs to look at creating a framework for institutionalising skill development and vocational skills within the education system. To this regard, the new National Education Policy 2020 (NEP) intends to bring a complete overhaul of India’s education system. The NEP 2020 outlines a vision to integrate vocational education into mainstream education in a phased manner by creation of a National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF), which will be coordinated with the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) for ease of mobility between streams. The policy has planned vocational skill exposure starting from the middle and secondary grade through internship opportunities with indigenous artisans, craftsmen and blue-collared professionals.

The foundations for an effective, efficient and sustainable skill development ecosystem had been laid over the course of the last few years, however, it is time now to build upon it. India’s economy is projected to become a $5 trillion economy by 2025 and transcend to an $8.4 trillion economy by 2030. Whether we achieve it or not depends on how we capitalise this decade and how effectively we eliminate the causes of disruptions. We must utilise this opportunity to rebuild ourselves rationally and critically with greater impetus.