'India can become largest provider of skilled workforce globally': PM Modi at G20 labour meet
BHOPAL: Maintaining that a globally mobile workforce is going to be a reality in future, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed confidence on Friday, about India having the potential to become one of the largest providers of skilled workforce in the world.
In his virtual address at the G20 Labour and Employment Ministers Meet in Indore, Modi highlighted the skills and dedication of India’s frontline health workers during the Covid pandemic and added that it reflects India’s culture of service and compassion.
“India has the potential to become one of the largest providers of skilled workforce in the world and a globally mobile workforce is going to be a reality in the future,” he said.
The prime minister also emphasized the role of G20 nations in globalizing the development and sharing of skills "in their truest sense."
While commending the efforts of member nations to initiate the international referencing of occupations by skills and qualifications requirements, PM Modi highlighted the need for new models of international cooperation and coordination, and migration and mobility partnerships.
Further, 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.
While underlining that employment is one of the most important economic and social factors, he said the world is at its threshold over some of the greatest changes in the employment sector and stressed the need to prepare responsive and effective strategies to address these rapid transitions.
Modi claimed that this is the era of 'Fourth Industrial Revolution' and added that technology has become and will remain the core driver for employment. He also 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.
With an emphasis towards skilling the workforce using advanced technologies and processes, PM Modi 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,” he added.
While pointing 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, the PM 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 the socio-economic empowerment of women.
Modi emphasized the need to realize 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.
Modi also 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 further added that countries should adopt similar solutions as the nature of work has become transnational.
While pointing out that even though providing social protection to people is a key aspect of the 2030 Agenda, he said the current framework adopted by international organizations only accounts for benefits that are structured in certain narrow ways while several benefits provided in other forms are not covered under this framework.
Modi also underlined that in order to grasp the correct picture of social protection coverage in India, benefits like universal public health, food security, insurance and pension programs must be accounted for. He suggested considering the unique economic capacities, strengths and challenges of every country as the one-size-fits-all approach is not suitable for sustainable financing of social protection.