In a development that holds much significance for the Rs 50000-crore rubber industry in India, the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and industry body All India Rubber Industries Association (AIRIA) on Monday announced the formation of the Rubber Industries Sector Skill Council (RSSC) for catalysing skill development in the labour-intensive rubber sector.
An MoU has been signed between NSCD and a partnership formed between AIRIA and ATMA (Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association) to jointly promote RSSC. The MoU was signed by chief executive officer and managing director of NSDC , Dilip Chenoy, and president of AIRIA, Vinod Simon, in the presence of Rubber Board chairperson Sheela Thomas and ATMA vice-chairman Anant Goenka.
The primary objectives of RSSC are identification of skill development needs, including preparing a catalogue of types of skills, range and depth of skills to facilitate individuals to choose from them. The council will also determine skills/competency standards and qualifications in Rubber sector. An important objective of RSSC will be to participate in accreditation, examination and certification of training courses at training institutes and promotion of academies of excellence. Planning training of trainers is another vital aspect before RSSC.
AIRIA and ATMA will jointly infuse equity in RSSC. NSDC has agreed to fund the formation and operations of the RSSC through a combination of grant and loan.
A sector skill gap study was undertaken by AIRIA and ATMA, which found that there is a significant gap between the availability and demand of trained manpower in Rubber Sector. While there are a large number of training institutes, employability is often an issue. There is need to create talent that is industry-ready. Skill development of existing personnel is also necessary to sharpen the competitive edge of the industry. RSSC will be crucial in meeting the skill development requirements especially of the vast MSME Rubber Sector, said Vinod Simon.
RSSC will be a Section 25 company. Under the RSSC project, the number of trainees to be certified over a period of 10 years is close to 700,000 with another 300,000 in-service personnel.
The governing board of RSSC comprises three members from the tyre segment, three members from the non-tyre segment (with at least 2 from the medium or small scale rubber companies) and a member each from Indian Rubber Manufacturer Research Association, Indian Cycle and Rickshaw Tyre Manufacturer Association, Indian Rubber Institute and Rubber Board of India.
The Indian rubber Industry comprises about 500 large and medium scale units and nearly 5,500 small and tiny units and is highly labour-intensive with 500,000 people directly employed in the industry.