Skill Development News Digest – 151115

The first two weeks of November saw good activity in the states of Odisha and Rajasthan. Let’s begin this fortnight’s update with some advice from Mr.S. Ramadorai, especially his concern about the impact of skill development initiatives in the unorganized sector.

• In skills training, put quality above numbers: Currently, the unorganized sector comprises about 93% of the workforce. Can unorganized and organized sector workforce ratio in India become 75:25 by 2022? To answer this question Mr. S. Ramadorai, explores the aspirational value of skill training with the help of RPL. “There are two ways to look at it: through RPL we can move unorganized sector workers to organized sector, and any new sunrise industry that is coming should take off with organized labour force—properly trained, assessed and certified. The point is can we move a massive amount of unorganized sector worker to organized sector, where the demand is. Every training provider and every job role is defined. Scale will be achieved second year onward.”
• LinkedIn for skill framework to help grade talent: As LinkedIn looks to grow its 33 million strong user base In India, second largest only after the US, the company is eyeing an integration with the National Skill Qualifications Framework (NSQF) which is looking at standardisation in skills of India’s workforce.
• NSDC Board appoints Jayant Krishna as interim CEO
  The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) announced the appointment of Jayant Krishna as its interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Krishna has assumed office on 10th November 2015 and will be in office until the selection and appointment of the new MD and CEO.

News from the states

• Odisha insists on extending skill development scheme to LWE districts: Odisha Chief Minister proposed Union Skill Development Secretary Rohit Nandan to extend the scheme of “Skill Development of Youth in LWE districts” to 13 more districts in the state. Presently only five LWE districts of Odisha are included under the scheme. In this scheme, one ITI and two Skill Development Centres are being set up per district.
• Skill development courses launched at St. Aloysius College: The college is one of the two Deendayal Upadhyaya Koushal Kendras sanctioned for the State.  The courses include a certificate programme, and diploma, advanced diploma and Bachelor of Vocation courses in three disciplines –  retail management, food processing and engineering, and pharmaceutical chemistry.
• Skill development university in Haryana
  Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced a skill development university will soon be set up in the state. Khattar said his government has also set up a skill development mission based on the National Skill Development Mission to train those who drop out from schools.
• Placement drive organized under Udaan: A two-day placement drive was organized under Udaan scheme at Udhampur in which 98 graduates were interviewed and 71 selected for training and placement in various companies.
• Inmates of the district jail in Kanpur will receive training as electricians and plumbers. The next phase will train women inmates in beautician and mehendi (henna) making courses.
• Arunachal CM in governing body of National Skill Development Mission: As per MSDE the key institutional mechanism under the National Skill Development Mission would consist of three tiers — an apex governing council, a steering committee and a mission directorate along with an executive committee. Mr Tuki’s role as a member of the governing council would be to provide overall guidance and policy direction to the Mission.
• Odisha-based Centurion University Unveils Schneider Electric India Learning-Training Lab: The state-of-the-art learning cum training lab is set up on its Campus at Bhubaneswar  in collaboration with the prestigious industry partner.

Industry update

• Ola, Uber Enter Skill Development Pact With Rajasthan Government: Taxi aggregators Ola and Uber have signed agreements with the Rajasthan government for skill development and creation of entrepreneurial opportunities in the state. Under the partnership, Ola will team up with the state government to provide skill development for 50,000 men and women over the next five years, it said in a statement. Uber, on its part, will also collaborate on skills training and development programmes in the desert state and create over 35,000 entrepreneurial opportunities.
• iQor will invest around Rs 1,300 crore over the next three-five years to expand the company’s market in India, which will help in creating 20,000 new jobs all over the country. iQor has signed an agreement with Electronic Sector Skill Council of India (ESSCI) to this effect.
• Providing skilled manpower & technical cadre to apparel industry: The Ministry of Textiles has chosen under ATDC Component-1 for implementation of ISDS …till 31st March, 2015, ATDC has trained 1,60,000 candidates under the project.ATDC has the support of the members of the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) and they absorb all candidates willing to get trained across the country in different clusters and units. The placement on an aggregate in the organized sector will be 45-50% and the rest about 25-30% in the unorganized sector, especially in Self Help Groups (SHG) and ‘smaller domestic’ units scattered all over the country.
• HSBC unveils Rs 100-crore skill development programme to impart skills to more than 75,000 people. It would also facilitate exchange of learning, innovation and best practices and engage various stakeholders to align it with the government’s vision of Skill India. The aim is to support non-profit organisations in three focus areas — employment-linked skills development of disadvantaged, upskilling of educators and teachers and women’s empowerment through livelihood enhancement.

Compiled and edited by the Team@NSN

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