New Delhi: To meet the rising demand for skilled workforce from the corporate sector, the government is creating a national database of labour market information, which would help industry source its manpower requirements, J P Rai, director general, National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) said yesterday.
“We are at present collating a database from the states on the labour force and will put out comprehensive information on labour market shortly,” he said at an ongoing workshop here on Youth and Inclusive Citizenship, organised by civil society group PRIA and Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE).
Rai said that after getting sufficient information on the labour market, accreditation of manpower agencies would be done so that industry can access information on manpower requirement efficiently.
He said the government was working on a plan to make existing Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) more representative so that the issues and concerns of workers at the bottom of the value chain were addressed.
The government has set up 30 SSCs representing sectors such as jewellery, leather, auto components and rubber.
“For instance, in the case of the rubber skill council, often the issues affecting rubber tappers are not reflected in the skill enhancement programme, thus leading to gaps,” Rai said.
He also said that NSDA was trying to formulate a programme where Recognition of Prior Learning would be certified by government agencies.
It is estimated that there are one million people joining the workforce every month in the country. In the non-farm sector, 90 percent of the jobs are in the MSMEs domain.
Even for the Naxalite-affected districts, the government is working on a special skill enhancement programme for addressing the economic deprivation faced by large masses of people, he said, adding: “We recognise that the Naxal issue can be dealt with effectively through economic means by providing necessary skills to youth and making them employable.”
IANS
