National Skills Mission to be launched; industry welcomes move

New Delhi, February 28

Government on Saturday announced launching of a National Skills Mission to consolidate skill initiatives across several ministries, a move that was hailed by the industry as a welcome step to address the demographic dividend in the country.

Presenting the Budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, "We will soon be launching a National Skills Mission through the Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Ministry.

The Mission will consolidate skill initiatives across several ministries and allow us to standardise procedures and outcomes across our 31 Sector Skill Council."

Reacting to the announcement, Nitin Razdan, Managing Director-India, Hay Group, a global management consultancy firm, said that it was a welcome step although there were huge challenges.

Underlining that jobs and hiring in India need to shift from being qualification-based to skill-based, he said almost every hiring in India uses education and qualification as a surrogate for skill.  Hiring should be based on skills.

Razdan also welcomed  the budget allocation of Rs 1,000 crore for promotion of start ups and entrepreneurs particularly in the technology sector.

"This step could further improve India's position as the fourth largest start-up nation in the world," he said while emphasising entrepreneur capability development should be addressed simultaneously. PTI