Our country is currently experiencing a demographic dividend, and the budget announcements for the Skills, Employment, & Youth sectors have come at an opportune time. With the provision of INR 1.48 lakh crore for education, employment & skilling, the spotlight is now on the newly launched national schemes for employment generation. The announcements are a strong commitment from the Government to its immediate focus on youth employment and growth opportunities. The three Employment Linked Incentives schemes announced in this budget are apt steps towards improving the employability landscape thereby ensuring job creation. These three schemes are Enrolment in the EPFO for First Timers, Job creation in manufacturing sector and Support to Employers. To ensure the smooth roll-out of these schemes, the Government, Industry and Academia must come together to develop an integrated plan that ensures collaboration for their effective implementation.
Over the past decade, the Skill India Mission has been working relentlessly to provide the youth with industry-relevant skills that make them employable and encourage them towards sustainable livelihoods. The Government over these years, through the National Skilling Schemes (PMKVYs), development of Skilling infrastructure (PMKKs, JSSs, ITIs & Govt/ Private training centres) and Skill Loans, have made concerted efforts to Make India the Skill Capital of the world.
The three schemes, over the next two years, will impact 2.9 Crore young people. The first scheme (Enrolment in the EPFO for First Timers) with an outlay of INR23,000 crore is expected to benefit 210 lakh young people, the second employment-linked incentive scheme (Job creation in the manufacturing sector) with an outlay of INR52000 crore aims to benefit 30 lakh personnel and the third scheme (Support to Employers) with an outlay of INR32000 crore aims to benefit 50 lakh personnel. This is a substantial contribution from the Government, which will ensure job readiness, smoother education-to-work transitions, longevity and retention of new employees. These schemes envision to make India the global hub of manufacturing and boost jobs in our country. These schemes encourage the employers to create jobs for the potential workforce to join the sector and the employers in turn shall benefit from the growth & stability that will come with the continued employment of these workers for four years (and beyond). This stability shall bring momentum and speed to the operations of the manufacturing organisations thereby enabling them to meet the demands of cost and quality products over the due course of time. The incentives and subsidy take off the substantial financial burden off the employers there by encouraging them to create jobs for youth. Employers may look at redirecting these funds towards training, upskilling and creating learning opportunities for the new incumbents to ensure their career progressions and gainful employment.
The upgradation of ITIs (through Scheme D) is a much needed and awaited reform in the skilling ecosystem. The success of this scheme shall present a sustainable framework for effectively implementing a central government-initiated scheme with support from private industry and state governments. It is now also on the industry to move a few steps ahead and engage with ITIs in the development of new courses, updating the existing curriculum, facilitating faculty development, introducing capital-intensive new-age programs and supporting infrastructure development.
Finally, the internship in top companies is a comprehensive scheme that provides opportunities to 1 crore youth in the next five years to gain hands-on experience. The industry has never been incentivised to hire interns; however, this is the first time that the government has supported formal learning of interns, who will be ready for deployment immediately after their internships. This opportunity shall provide learners with job-relevant skills gained from top employers in the sector and subsequently give them stronger resumes and the right skills for being employable.
The FICCI HR & Skills committee and the entire young population of our country are looking forward to the implementation and successful rollout of these schemes. The schemes have laid the foundation for a strong youth-led economy and supported by the Industry & Government. The impact and success of these schemes can be ensured through long-term monitoring & impact assessment methodologies to ensure their effectiveness. FICCI shall continue to support the Ministry of Labor & Employment for Schemes A, B & C, the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship for Scheme D and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs for Scheme E to ensure their successful implementation.
The author is Chair, FICCI HR & Skills Committee
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