Government Skills Development Programs for Productivity and Enterprise Development

From left to right: NC Patnaik (Vice President, Balasore Chamber of Industries and Commerce), BS Pani (Industry consultant), Ansuman Bhanja (Director, Balasore Alloys), Sanjogita Mishra( Dean – Skills Integration, Centurion University) and Nabin Dash (General Manager, Gram Tarang Employability Training Services) at Business Standard Smart Business in Balasore on January 16, 2015, in association with Balasore Chamber of Industries and Commerce.

Skill development today is a major focus area for the Government with the Prime Minister creating a new ministry to handle the subject. The central government is revising the National Skill Development Policy 2009, so that schemes of different ministries to encourage entrepreneurship are routed through the newly-formed skill development and entrepreneurship ministry.

The Odisha state government has finalized the Odisha Skill Development Project with a layout of Rs.1050 crore. The project will be implemented in six years starting from 2015. The state government plans to train one million youth in various employable skills during the 12th Five year Plan (2012-17). The total workforce demand for skilled jobs in Odisha is expected to touch 13.5 million in 2026. Out of the total investment, Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) assistance will be Rs 660 crore and the balance Rs 390 crore will be borne by the state government.

With both the central and state governments drawing up ambitious plans for skill development to address the skill gaps in the industrial sector, experts have pitched for more focus on the skilling of people to meet the requirements of small and medium scale units.

“SMEs provide maximum employment in our country and need larger number of skilled manpower compared to big industries where the employment opportunities are limited due to automation,” said Ansuman Kumar Bhanja, Director, Balasore Alloys Limited, at the Business Standard Smart Business event on ‘Government Skills Development Programs for Productivity and Enterprise Development’ organized in association with Balasore Chamber of Industries and Commerce.

Bhanja pointed out that only six per cent of engineers are competent to work in multinational companies and another forty per cent meet the requirement of national organisations. The balance 54 per cent are not properly skilled. He stressed on skilling of employees at the Tier-I, Tier-II levels, not only at the Tier-III level.

BS Pani, a former employee of National Aluminium Company and an industry expert, said that there is a decline in the quality of education and training institutes in Balasore district and urged industrialists to support local institutions and participate in the quality improvement process. He also stressed on harnessing indigenous skills.

Sanjogita Mishra, Dean – Skills Integration, Centurion University, and Nabin Kumar Dash, General Manager, Gram Tarang Employability Training Services, also spoke on the occasion.