Expressing concern over the quality of engineering education in the country, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said India shouldn't squander its demographic advantage due to an unskilled labour force.
Inaugurating 45th annual convention of Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE), hosted by HVPM's College of Engineering and Technology here, Fadnavis said that excellence has been disconnected from technical education.
"Only 25 per cent of engineers produced in the country are of any use, which means the rest 75 per cent are useless. This is a very alarming situation," he said.
Speaking before the gathering which included delegates from foreign countries, Fadnavis said, "65 per cent of Indian population is below 35. It can be developed into a workforce but what we lack is the connect. The need of the hour is to transform this workforce into a skilled human resource."
While the Indian population's average age will be 29 years by 2020, the same will be between 31 and 45 in other countries, which will create a great opportunity for India to become service provider of the world, he said.
"Technical education has been expanded through the private sector, but most of these colleges are in five states in the country, including Maharashtra," the CM said, adding that this uneven expansion was leading to half the engineering seats remaining vacant.
He also said that ratio of four diploma holders and eight ITI certificate holders for every engineering graduate was skewed, and "we are not being able to produce as many technicians as required."
Despite high domestic demand, India was importing the things such as TV sets and cell phones instead of manufacturing them, he said.
Stating that the Chinese economy was stuttering, Fadnavis
said the world was now seeking a new manufacturing hub and India had the right combination of "demography, democracy and demand".
"Investors will invest only when the human resource is available. All big brands have invested in and around Pune because the city has been able to cater to their needs," he said.
The Chief Minister also warned that India had only 20 years' window to become a world provider of services. "If we do not exploit the demographic advantage we enjoy now, the focus will shift to African countries."
ISTE chairman Pratapsinh Desai, speaking on the occasion, said the engineering education in the country was only producing "engineering clerks" who are unfit for the industry.
ISTE awards were presented to C Ramakrishnan of Singapore, VT Ingole of Amravati and Dr Subhash Mahajan, Director, DTE, Mumbai at the Chief Minister's hands during the event.
