Shortage of skilled manpower

Addressing the annual summit of the Confederation of Indian Industry on Monday, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, minister of state for skill development and entrepreneurship (independent charge), highlighted the pitiable state of skilled manpower in India by citing various examples. He said some months back he received a letter from the Peruvian ambassador to India. The ambassador wanted to know why India was issuing visas to Peruvian nationals to come all the way from the Latin American country to work as drillers in India. Rudy said he inquired into the matter and found out that there were not enough trained drillers in India; that was why Hindustan Zinc Limited was hiring drillers from overseas to work in Rajasthan. These included drillers from Peru, who travelled 17,000 km and across continents, to come to work in India.