FICCI’s Global Skills Summit (GSS) 2019 deliberates Making India the Skill Capital of the world

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) organised Global Skills Summit (GSS) on 19^th and 20^th of September at FICCI Federation House, New Delhi. The theme of this year’s GSS was “India – The Skill Capital: Making it happen”.

The welcome and theme address was presented by Mr. Bijay Sahoo and the keynote speakers for the inaugural session were Dr. Amer Awadh AI Rawas, Mr. Subroto Bagchi and Dr. Anup K. Pujari. The vision address on Making India a skill capital was put forward by Mr. T.V. Mohandas Pai and the session was moderated by Ms. Shobha Mishra Ghosh. In this session speakers expressed that we must make use of immense potential that India has to become the Skill Capital of the world. This requires policy intervention by the government but however, it should not be one-policy-fits-all approach. They must be formulated based on the native genius from a particular region. If India’s demographic dividend is not utilised well, it might become a demographic disaster. Speakers also opined that we should take pride in our culture and traditions. We must recognise the knowledge and prior learning in areas that are otherwise ignored. In the current times, it is not just economic disruption but socio-economic disruption. To cope with this youth must be skilled and the skilling must take place with an aspirational value attached to it.

Related article: FICCI Global Skills Summit 2019: Snapshots of the Inaugural Session – Read more: https://nationalskillsnetwork.in/ficci-global-skills-summit-2019-snapshots-of-the-inaugural-session/

The inaugural session was followed by the CEOs Panel: India – The Skill Capital: Making it Happen. The session was chaired and moderated by Mr. T.V. Mohandas Pai. The panelists were Mr. Krish Iyer, Mr. Hitesh Oberoi, Mr. Rashmi Ranjan Mohapatra, Dr. Blossom Kochhar, Mr. Ramakrishnan, Mr. Bhaskar Ranjan Das. All the panellists agreed that India can become the Skill Capital only when the skills are made aspirational. Everyone among the youth must have some skill and not remain a mere graduate. Panelists across various sectors expressed that each industry has a great potential to grow and requires skilled personnel. But the widening skill gap is not closing because of lack of trained and skilled professionals. To address the existing issues and to move towards making India the Skill Capital, most important things are to enhance the quality of a trainer, a strong industry connect and tailor-made approach to various industries keeping in mind the emerging technologies.

Related article: FICCI Global Skills Summit (GSS) 2019: Snapshots of the CEOs’ Panel Discussion – Read more: https://nationalskillsnetwork.in/ficci-global-skills-summit-gss-2019-snapshots-of-the-ceos-panel-discussion/

Plenary session on “Perspectives on career guidance” followed that CEO Panel discussion. Keynote address for the session was given by Prof. Dinesh Singh. The session was chaired and moderated by Ms. Sunita Sanghi. Panellists present for the discussion were Ms. Anuradha Prasad, Dr. Harsh Singh, Ms. Suman Sachdeva, Mr. Ajay Lalwani, Mr. Sanjib Kumar Rout, Mr. K V Praveen Raju, Ms Ravneet Pawha and Ms. Pervin Malhotra. Panellists put forward that emerging technologies are changing the nature of work culture. The concept of a permanent job is fading and will soon disappear. Earlier, when someone asked for career guidance, one could easily name a few. But now this is difficult as careers change, the nature and the type of work is fast changing. Therefore, there is a need for the youth and children to be well-versed with transferable skills like flexibility, adaptability, continuous learning etc. Since there is enormous amount information out there, one must focus on managing such information, decision-making and zeroing upon a career choice that is best suitable for them.

Related article: FICCI Global Skills Summit (GSS) 2019: Snapshots of plenary session on Career Guidance, HR Mobility and Apprenticeships. Read more: https://nationalskillsnetwork.in/ficci-global-skills-summit-gss-2019-snapshots-of-plenary-session-on-career-guidance-hr-mobility-and-apprenticeships/

Plenary session was followed by a session on HR Mobility: Shifts in Global Labour Market. The session was chaired and moderated by Mr. Bijay Sahoo and the panelists were Dr. Amer Awadh Al Rawas, Mr. Vasudeva Nayak and Mr TLS Bhaskar. The session focussed upon changing global market scenarios, the widening skill gap and the growing demand for the ‘new-age’ skilled workforce. The panellists opined that emerging new technologies will disrupt the current global markets in bettering the employment formality, social security and also help the workforce gain mobility. Youth must not just be trained in technical skills but also in soft skills because it is the soft skills that help them in mobility i.e., to move across careers, expressed the panelists.

The last session for the 12^th Global Skills Summit, 2019, was on Apprenticeship and Productivity. This session was chaired and moderated by Ms. Veena Swarup and the panelists were Mr. Rhys Williams, Mr. Surajit Roy, Col. Inder S Gahlaut, Mr. Pawan Yadav and Mr. Amitabh Adhikary. The panelists unanimously agreed on the need to promote apprenticeships on a war footing since it will help the industry and the job seekers. For the youth, apprenticeship is the best way to make a transition to the world of work and NSDC has taken up many initiatives to create awareness about the benefits of National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS). Keeping this in mind the importance of apprenticeships, FICCI has compiled an apprenticeship report, which was released by the honourable Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey.

The value of apprenticeship should also be conveyed to the MSMEs who are the main job creators in our industrial ecosystem. Moreover, with many new job roles in the services sector getting added, we can expect better adoption across industries.

Concluding remarks and vote of thanks was presented by Mr. Bijay Sahoo. We, the Team NSN, believe that the 12^th Global Skills Summit has been able to bring forward various opinions and arguments on making the India the Skill Capital. Which rightly focussed upon areas such as career counselling, apprenticeship, bridging the skill gap, recognising the prior knowledge, building up a skill ecosystem for youth to be able to be employable in the times of changing nature of work. The summit also threw a light on skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling the workforce to fill the void in various industrial requirements.