More than half of India’s population of 1.3 billion is below the age of 25. It is estimated that the average age of India’s population will be 29 by 2020, compared to 40 years in the United States, 46 years in Europe and 47 years in Japan.

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More than half of India’s population of 1.3 billion is below the age of 25. It is estimated that the average age of India’s population will be 29 by 2020, compared to 40 years in the United States, 46 years in Europe and 47 years in Japan.

It is estimated that there will be 104.62 million fresh entrants in the labour market by 2022.  The expectation from this 40% of the “young and working” population of the country is to hold up the mantle of the nation’s rapid economic growth. Unfavorably, however, the gap between the productive labor force and the employment and entrepreneurial opportunities available to them in the country continues to widen. Sectors like IT which were highly regarded so far now seem to be on the shaky ground followed by the even more precarious states of the manufacturing industry in the country. A large section of the workforce is already hampered with outdated and irrelevant skills being disseminated vis government schools, colleges, and institutes across the country.  As technology continues to surge forward in leaps and bounds, both blue and white-collar jobs will become increasingly sparse.

Charged with the colossal challenge of skilling 400 million young Indians by 2022, the MSDE is forced to coordinate with 22 departments and ministries at the national level, and many more at the sub-national levels. Despite the strong Government impetus through the “Skill India” and “Make in India” programmes, the questions of quality of talent and thereby of products manufactured in India remain under conjecture.

The need for the hour, therefore, is meaningful industry participation in skill training programmes to ensure that appropriate and necessary skills are being taught, a clear standards and certification system in out in place, and an appropriately designed and implemented long-term skill development strategy is implemented.

Skill Development is one of the verticals of Maruti Suzuki Limited’s corporate social responsibility programme. The main objective is to enhance the employability of youth by improving the quality of skill training. Maruti Suzuki aims to impart knowledge to students on latest automobile technologies as well as train them on soft skills. The initiative of skill development is committed to bridge the skill gap and be a significant contributor to the government of India’s ‘Skill India’ programme.

MSIL provides training to students and trainers through various workshops and industry exposure. It aims to impart soft skills to students to make them job-ready.

• More than 17,500 students benefit from Maruti Suzuki’s Skill enhancement initiative in Automobile Trade
• 2200 students absorbed into MSIL service network in FY 2016-17. In total more than 4200 absorbed so far
• 34% of its total requirement for technicians is met from these ITIs supported
• Tie-up with over 110 ITIs across the country
• For the first time ever a Japanese trainer with 40 years of experience was invited to impart technical training.