When Your Skills Speak a Thousand Words A Task Force was launched for closing the skill gap in India in collaboration with the World Economic Forum

When people say that life was simpler and less complicated earlier, perhaps, they were right. In the pre-independence era, India was an agrarian economy and therefore the focus was more on farming and agriculture activities. Hence life for the major part remained less tangled. Fast forward to a few more years and decades. With the advent of technology and economic reforms, the demand for labour in the service sector has increased inevitably.

Today India is facing a huge skill gap. The Wheebox Employability Test (WEST) highlighted that employment this year reached 45.6% which is 5.16% more than last year but we need to ask if this number is enough owing to the fact that India is a developing economy and the population in this country is booming. Moreover, India being one of the countries with the youngest population undergoing skill gap crisis is not a good thing.

Industries and business enterprises are facing predicaments when it comes to hiring people. People possess the necessary qualifications for a particular job but lack the skill to produce an adequate amount of output or be sufficiently productive. Consequently, entrepreneurs and businesses lose out on a lot of money.

For the employee in question, such a scenario becomes a big cause of demotivation and low confidence. But it is at this crossroad that the fault lines in the system become apparent. So whether it is reassessing the education system or devising proper employment standards, some specific action is required. For now, it has been the battle of the employee and the employer to deal and negotiate with skill gap crisis but gradually, the government is taking the reins into its hands to reach a level where skill gap doesn't become cataclysmic.

The government has been taking and continues to take steps to entangle India from this situation. Recently, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Honorable Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship launched a Task Force for closing the skills gap in India in collaboration with the World Economic Forum. The task force will bring together leaders from business, Government, civil society, and the education and training sectors to accelerate the future-proofing of education and training systems in the country.

So, even though there is a void between the requirement of the industry and the availability, this initiative by the government promises to solve this issue and remove the inconsistencies in the system.

Honourable Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan correctly pointed out at the occasion: "With more than half of our population in the working age, skills development will be critical to sustaining inclusive growth and development in India. The Closing the Skills Gap Task Force will be a significant step to accelerate the impact on skills development already achieved by bringing together relevant stakeholders to act collectively."

With such opportunities awaiting the nation, there is boundless hope for solutions to emerge and remedy the pre-existing loopholes in the system.