Wednesday, September 17, 2008

FUNDS NO CONSTRAINT TO DELIVER SKILLED MANPOWER OF QUALITY AND IN SHORT TIME

 FM addresses Board Meeting of National Skill Development Corporation
Finance Minister, Shri P. Chidambaram addressing the Board Meeting of National Skill Development Corporation(NSDC) emphasized the need to deliver skilled manpower of reasonable magnitude and quality within a short time frame. Finance Minister advised the Board to establish and operationalize skill development institutes in all major regions of the country by March 31, 2009 as a quick start. This should be followed by a comprehensive programme with wide coverage throughout the country. The programme should not only aim to bridge the emerging skill gaps in the Indian economy but should also cater to the demand on account of worldwide skill shortages. Funds will not be a constraint. Government of India has set aside Rs. 1,000 crore in the budget of 2008-09 for this purpose. The effort would be to raise the corpus to Rs. 15,000 crore in the next few years. He stated that a challenge had been posed to the private sector and while the involvement of Government in the running of the Company would be light and minimal, it was imperative that the private sector delivered early visible results in producing skilled workers as per the needs of the economy. 

The Chairman of the Board made a presentation on the possible strategies for addressing the demand supply gap in the requirement of skilled manpower for various sectors and identified the fundamental problems in this regard which would have to be addressed while finalizing the strategies of the Company. The Board resolved to carry forward the vision articulated by the Finance Minister and strive to deliver early results in enhancing the supply of skilled workers for various critical sectors. 

National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), incorporated by Ministry of Finance as a "not for profit" Company under Section 25 of the Company's Act, 1956, held its first Board meeting on August 27, 2008 and the Board unanimously confirmed Sri MV Subbaiah as the Chairman. NSDC will be a private sector led entity and stimulate and co-ordinate private sector initiatives in the area of skill development. The authorized capital of NSDC has been fixed at Rs 10 crore, 51% of which shall be subscribed by private sector organizations with the remaining 49% to be subscribed by Government of India. Private sector representatives will have a majority in the Board of Directors of the Company. 

The following nominee Directors of the contributing organizations have been inducted in the Board: (for the sake of continuity, the term of each of the nominee Director has been kept as 3 years) 

i. Sri Chandrajit Banerjee (Confederation of Indian Industry). 

ii. Sri Sajjan Jindal (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry). 

iii. Sri Kumar Gera (Confederation of Real Estate Developers of India). 

iv. Sri Dilip Chenoy (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers). 

v. Sri Vasant Mehta (Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council). 

vi. Sri Shishir Jaipuria (Confederation of Indian Textile Industry). 

vii. Sri Muktarhul Amin (Council for Leather Exports). 

Government of India is represented by Smt. Sudha Pillai, Secretary, Ministry of Labor, Shri Dinesh Rai, Secretary, Ministry of Medium and Small Industry and Smt. Sindhushree Khullar, Special Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance.

No comments: