For India to achieve the goal of Global Skills Capital, skilled workforce is essential: Official

A skilled workforce is crucial as India is surging towards a 5 trillion dollar economy with thrust on knowledge and innovation, said Sanjay Bhattacharyya, secretary (Consular, Passport and Visa and Overseas Indian Affairs division).

The Secretary at the 7th Confederation spoke on National Conference on Skill Development & Livelihood - 'Reimaging & Reinventing Skill Development Ecosystem for Productivity, Livelihood & Sustainable Growth'

For India to achieve the goal of 'Global Skills Capital', a skilled and competitive workforce, as per international standards, is essential. It is particularly pertinent in the current scenario, as digitalisation and the fourth industrial revolution have transformed the global landscape and the future of work, said Sanjay Bhattacharyya in his special address.

"Further, a skilled workforce is crucial for any dynamic economy. India is surging towards a five trillion dollar economy with thrust on knowledge and innovation. For India to achieve the goal of 'Global Skills Capital', a skilled and competitive workforce, as per international standards, is essential," he added.

Sanjay Bhattacharyaa said this is particularly pertinent in the current scenario, as digitalisation and the fourth industrial revolution have transformed the global landscape and the future of work.

"India, with a median age of 29 is advantageously poised a demographic dividend while most countries are facing an ageing population and a shrinking workforce. But our window of opportunity is not long, as India has also entered a phase of demographic transition, with its fertility rate falling below the required replacement rate," he said in his address.

"In an interconnected and globalised world, just hard skills are not enough. We have to move towards building competencies. These competencies include hard skills as well as other attributes such digital literacy, linguistic ability and cultural empowerment, in order to have an edge in an already competitive global employment landscape. Our endeavour is to provide the environment for higher returns to migrants going overseas," he added.

Further in his speech, the Secretary mentioned that skilling that is targeted for a specific country may be possible only in some cases. In general, we have to embark on a more ambitious skilling effort for our domestic economy, one that would be in alignment with international standards. Top up skilling can be provided if needed in certain cases .

( With inputs from ANI )

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