Govt, UGC may soon launch skilling programme for undergraduates: MoS Jayant Chaudhary at BT India@100

BT India@100 summit: Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Jayant Chaudhary said that the government is in talks for a skilling programme with University Grants Commission (UGC). “Soon we will roll out skilling programmes for undergraduates in partnership with UGC. We are in talks,” said the minister.

Addressing a session titled 'The Skill Capital of the World' at the Business Today India@100 event, the MoS shared some of the moves being adopted by the government to implement skill initiatives.

According to Chaudhary, India must have global ambition in terms of skill development to meet the competitive talent market needs. As 90 crore of our population is under 35, it also becomes an imperative for the country to do so.

“Mine is a young ministry,” Chaudhary said. “But we are trying our best to inject skilling into the mainstream of the country. We are also working closely with the state governments and  government bodies to ensure upskilling,” he said.

Commenting on the importance of data in the process, he said that the ministry has also collaborated with other ministries, which make high use of data, as skills are sector agnostic. According to him, the government has also spotted a lot of interest among younger people for schemes boosting skill development.

However, as per the minister, it is also crucial to inject skilling interests in the education system. A significant policy under the National Education Policy is to make vocational and skill development courses mandatory for school-going children. It will make sure that a child grows with an additional skills, expected to add value to the child’s degree.

Speaking on the role of IT companies in implementation of the latest internship policies, Chaudhary said, “I read a study which stated that 66 per cent of the IT companies are not getting candidates with required skills. Thus, I think IT companies will play a very big role in the realisation of the policies.”

Adding about the Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH), he said that currently, there are multiple courses for which about 88 lakh people have registered and 7.5 lakh people have enrolled for the digital courses.

However, speaking about gaps between pay scales and skills, he said that government can only fix a minimum daily wage but beyond that, it is for the industry to decide what to offer to the employees.