CII Skill conclave deliberates on the need for Skill Development

CII Skill Conclave deliberates on the need for skill development to sustain the Economic Growth

Skill development is the quintessential factor to maintain the current economic growth and if this is not addressed at the earliest it will have a debilitating effect on the Indian economy. This was reverberated at the Conclave on Building Skills: Building India organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here today. Delivering the Inaugural address at the conclave Dr. J Geeta Reddy, Hon’ble Minister for Sugar, Industries & Commerce, Export Promotion, Government of Andhra Pradesh dwelt on the need for skill development to maintain the competitiveness of the Indian Economy and added that issue of skill shortage has received due diligence from the central and the state Governments. Addressing the criticality of Skills in India , Dr Reddy said that the Government cannot work independently and need to work with the Indian Industry to develop Industry vertical skills and this is utmost important to meet the need for skilled workforce across all sectors, she said.

In his special address, Mr. G Vinod, Hon’ble Minister for Labour, Employment, Factories and Boilers, Government of Andhra Pradesh said that the efficiency of an individual grows as he build skills and this in turn increases his productivity to perform the job. Mr. Vinod also added that the Government of Andhra Pradesh supports all such initiatives and offered all help from the Government in the area of Skill Development. In his Keynote address, Mr. Ashok Soota, Past President, CII and Chairman and Managing Director, Mindtree Consulting Pvt. Ltd. said that India is facing a difficult task of having strong economic fundamentals but with an environment where the rate of Unemployment is high compounded with the lack of availability of skilled people.

Mr. Soota said there is a perception in India that “only higher education leads to higher personal growth and employment” and this needs to be corrected. It is the knowledge of skills that is important to have higher personal growth and Employment and added that stakeholders need to decide their roles and responsibilities in skill development, the funding requirements and the funding mechanism. In his theme address, Mr. B Santhanam, Chairman, Taskforce on Skills, Employability and Affirmative Action, CII (SR) said that as the share of agriculture in the economy has reduced over the years, more and more people are moving into manufacturing and service sectors as the country develops and Skill building is needed for these people to build for a lucrative employment. Quoting a CII -IMacs Study, Mr. Santhanam said that there are large manpower requirements in several sectors in Andhra Pradesh and the state needs 7.5 to 8 million additional workforce by 2015.

Mr. T T Ashok Chairman, CSR Sub committee , CII (SR) delivered the welcome address and Mr. Pradeep Dhobale, Chairman, CII – Andhra Pradesh delivered the concluding remarks.

The conclave has brought the different stakeholders together to discuss in depth on topics like Strategic challenges and Policy Initiatives in Skill Development, the global scenario in Skill Development and the Employers involvement.

Coinciding with the conclave, Dr. J Geeta Reddy, Hon’ble Minister for Sugar, Industries & Commerce, Export Promotion, Government of Andhra Pradesh and Mr. G Vinod, Hon’ble Minister for Labour, Employment, Factories and Boilers, Government of Andhra Pradesh released the CII Study on Mapping of Human Resources and Skills in Andhra Pradesh -2015