Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

30-September-2011 17:38 IST

FM Meets Indian Contestants at London World Skills

Competition; Advises them to Keep the National Flag

Flying High; 150 Million People to be Skilled by 2022

Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee has advised the participants of the London World Skills Competition to keep the national flag flying high. The 16-member Indian contingent that will represent the country at the biennial World Skills Competition, being held in London from October-5-8, 2011 met the Finance Minister here today. Earlier, the Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee presented a momento carrying the national flag to each of the participants.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that it gave him immense pleasure to meet the participants of the World Skills Competition. He was happy that this year 16 participants were representing India at this competition. He told the participants that with their skills and talent, he was sure that they would come out with flying colours and make the country proud. He also said that it was an opportunity to get an international exposure which should help the participants to aspire and work towards higher and better performance levels in the future. He commended the experts and the guides who worked hard to bring the participants to this level of competence, which had enabled them to realize their dream of participating at the World Skills Competition. He wished the young participants of World Skills Competition all success.

The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), a Public Private Partnership promoted by the Ministry of Finance, has taken the responsibility of ensuring the Indian participation at the London World Skills Competition.

On the occasion, Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee also met the Members of the Board of National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and got an update on the work that had been undertaken by them in the area of skill development and training.

Shri Mukherjee said that NSDC had been set up to upgrade labour force skills especially for underprivileged sections of society and in backward regions of the country by involving the industry in a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework. He said that investment in human capital was vital for improvement in labour productivity, to sustain high growth over extended periods of time.

Shri Mukherjee said that NSDC had been mandated by the Government to skill / up-skill 150 million people by 2022 in partnership with the private sector and the Corporation is expected to meet the skill training requirements of labour both in the organized and the unorganized sector. Shri Mukherjee said that NSDC is also expected to develop an enabling ecosystem to foster growth of sustainable skill development entities.

The Finance Minister Shri Mukherjee was pleased to know that as of August, 2011, NSDC had approved funding for 39 projects which would skill 57 million persons in the next ten years by creating capacity of 11.3 million per annum at full scale.

The Finance Minister Shri Mukherjee said that we need to speed up the setting up of Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) to cover other areas and that the industry associations - ASSOCHAM, CII and FICCI should take a lead in identifying these other sectors on a priority basis. He said that the Government would continue to focus on Skill Development in the 12th Plan as well.

DSM/SS/GN

Skill development mandate directs public-private partnerships to scale nationwide training and create sector skill councils to expand workforce capabilities. The Finance Minister reviewed NSDC's mandate to upgrade workforce skills via a Public Private Partnership, targeting both organized and unorganized sectors, fostering an ecosystem of sustainable skill providers, and implementing funded projects expected to create substantial annual training capacity; he urged rapid establishment of Sector Skill Councils with industry associations leading sector identification and affirmed continued government focus on skill development in the next Plan.