Many corporates are coming forward to join the Skill India Mission through their CSR initiatives. The latest to join the mission is Ingersoll Rand, a company committed to creating sustainable and efficient environments through product innovation and design in Food Safety, Energy Efficiency and other sectors. As a part of their Corporate Social Responsiblity (CSR), Ingersoll Rand has partnered with National Skill Development Fund, a special fund setup under the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, to support vocational training at two National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) partner centers at Gurgaon, Haryana. The partnership was launched on 26th May 2017 with an allocation of approximately INR 50 Lacs in CSR contributions towards this effort
Highlights of the tripartite agreement
Ingersoll Rand and NSDC teams will work closely to provide gainful employment to close to 250 youths with at least 30% focus on female participation in the location.
The funds will be used for skilling youth with a special focus on women at two NSDC centers in Haryana
Recent estimates from the International Monetary Fund suggest that India’s GDP could expand by 27 percent if the number of female workers increases to the same level as that of men, which is currently around 27%. Rajesh Agrawal, Joint Secretary at the Ministry, said, “Through the Fund, the Ministry has converged funds from various Ministries, multi-lateral agencies and public sector companies, to meet the objectives of the Skill India mission. The latest contribution from Ingersoll Rand in India validates that private sector and Government can complement each other towards our collective responsibility to open up opportunities to youth and women.”
As part of the partnership this year, vocational training will be imparted to the youth for their industry readiness in the manufacturing and automotive sectors covering job profiles like CNC Operator and Quality Control Inspector. Upon successful completion, trainees will receive a certificate in alignment with the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF), a competency-based framework for skills. The program will also embed soft skills, digital and financial learning modules. Youth for this program will be selected through a counselling session conducted by NSDC in order to map their career aspiration to the job opportunities available locally.
Welcoming this partnership, Manish Kumar, MD & CEO, NSDC said, “There is an increasing number of corporates keen to work with the ecosystem. This represents better outreach, trust in the systems and also credibility of the NSDC ecosystem. More importantly, from a CSR standpoint, it gives Corporates a single entity that can coordinate and facilitate skilling in any part of the country. The fact that they can meet CSR compliance needs and contribute to the larger Skill India mission drives such engagements”.
Commenting on the partnership, Amar Kaul, Chairman and Managing Director, Ingersoll Rand India Limited shared, “As an organization, we continue our commitment as good corporate citizens and believe that Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) can play a strong role in creation of social infrastructure and skilling the youth and women. Our association with National Skill Development Corporation is a step towards making specialized skilled workforce in the state, which will have a direct bearing on employment.”
Present on the occasion Jayant Krishna – ED & COO NSDC said, “This initiative by Ingersoll Rand is also a step forward to encourage women into unconventional/non-traditional trades and help bring them into the labour workforce.”
National Skill Development Corporation, through its skill ecosystem will ensure that the courses run in these centres are all aligned to the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) which is a competency based framework that organises all qualifications according to a series of levels of knowledge, skills and aptitude. NSDC will ensure quality training and managements of the structured skill development programme.
(This article is based on a press release from NSDC, Government of India.)
