The Heavy Industries Department estimates the annual manpower requirement of the electrical equipment industry at one lakh.

Ambuj Sharma, Joint Secretary, Heavy Industries Department, said it has been found that graduates and diploma holders who pass out of engineering and technical institutions lacked the ready skill sets required by the industry, despite the institutions churning out large numbers every year.

He was addressing the annual convention of the Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers' Association here on Friday.

Sharma said the industry felt that they were not readily equipped to handle machinery and other tasks. In the automobile segment, the Department found that it took six to nine to months to re-train the candidates.

“After three years or four years of education, if one spent months equipping them on the technical front then it is sheer duplication and wasteful expenditure,” he said.

To address the issue, the Government has decided to map the skills gap not only in syllabi but also in training.

Once one becomes a teacher he does not upgrade his skills and there is a tendency to continue for 20 to 25 years without upgrading his knowledge. The machines and models used for training programmes would also be upgraded, he said.

To tackle the issue in its entirety, the Government has decided on standardisation of technical education syllabi, including examinations and certification.

The Government’s role would be restricted to giving the programme a fillip by setting up the centres for the skills development council and getting the plan approved by the national skill development council. Implementation will be on public-private-partnership mode, he said.

shanker.s@thehindu.co.in

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