India Has Potential To Become One Of Largest Providers Of Skilled Workforce Globally: PM

India has the potential to become one of the largest providers of skilled workforce in the world, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.

While addressing the G-20 labour and employment ministers meet in Indore, Madhya Pradesh virtually, he said the world is at the threshold of some of the greatest changes in the employment sector and stressed the need to prepare responsive and effective strategies to address these rapid transitions. 

In this era of the fourth industrial revolution, he said, "Technology has become and will remain the core driver for employment. He highlighted India’s capability in creating countless technology jobs during the last such technology-led transformation and also touched upon the host city Indore which is home to many startups leading the new wave of such transformations."

Modi emphasised skilling the workforce with the use of advanced technologies and processes and said that skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling are the mantras for the future workforce. 

He gave examples of India’s skill India mission making this a reality and ‘Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana’ which has trained more than 12.5 million of India’s youth so far. 

“Special focus is being laid on Industry ‘Four Point O’ sectors like artificial intelligence, robotics, internet of things and drones," the Prime Minister added. 

The Prime Minister highlighted the skills and dedication of India’s frontline health workers during Covid-19 and said that it reflects India’s culture of service and compassion. 

He emphasised the G-20's role in globalisation, the development and sharing of skills in the true sense. 

He commended the efforts of member nations to initiate the international referencing of occupations by skills and qualifications requirements. 

He said that it requires new models of international cooperation and coordination, and migration and mobility partnerships. He suggested sharing statistics, information and data regarding employers and workers for a start which will empower countries across the globe to formulate evidence-based policies for better skilling, workforce planning and gainful employment.

PM Modi pointed out that transformative change is the evolution of new categories of workers in the gig and platform economy that has emerged as the pillar of resilience during the pandemic. 

He added that it offers flexible working arrangements and also complements income sources. He said that it has immense potential of generating gainful employment, especially for the youth while also becoming a transformative tool for socio-economic empowerment of women. Modi emphasised the need to realise its potential and design new-age policies and interventions for these new-age workers.

He suggested finding sustainable solutions to create opportunities for regular work and coming up with new models to ensure social security, health and safety.

The Prime Minister threw light on India’s ‘eShram portal’ that has seen almost 280 million registrations and is being leveraged for targeted interventions for these workers. He added that countries should adopt similar solutions as the nature of work has become transnational.