CSCs to be made training schools for jobs in auto sector

The nearly one lakh Government-run Common Service Centres will soon become training schools for tens of thousands of students aspiring a job in India’s growing automotive sector.

In a bid to fill up the skill vacuum in the automotive sector, the National Skill Development Corporation, in concert with top four-wheeler and two-wheeler makers, has initiated a string of training programmes to provide employment to lakhs of unemployed for different jobs in the auto sector.

As part of this programme, the corporation is set to rollout a unique on-line training-cum-certification course through the vast chain of CSCs in the country. “We are starting with 10 different courses for the two-wheeler industry and will later scale it up for the four-wheeler sector. The courses include mechanics, welding, basic engineering and showroom operations required by the industry. We intend to start off in a month,” Dilip Chenoy, the corporation’s managing director and CEO, told Business Line here.

The CSCs were set up as part of the National e-Governance Plan in May 2006 to provide cost-effective video, voice and data content services in the areas of e-governance, education, health, tele-medicine and other private services. The platform also offers web-enabled e-governance services in rural areas, including utility payments.

Chenoy said out of the one-lakh odd CSCs, about 80,000 to 90,000 were operational and adequately equipped to deliver the on-line courses to the job aspirants.

Auto majors including Maruti, Tata Motors, Mahindra, Honda and Toyota are partnering with NSDC to roll out several training programmes, especially for drivers. “We have estimated that the Indian auto industry would require 35 million people up to 2022. Shortage of skilled drivers, especially for commercial vehicles is a serious problem faced by the industry today, he said.

In the current fiscal, the corporation has trained more than 60,000 youth in 40 different job roles for the auto sector. Next fiscal, it aims at doubling the number through its tie-ups with different auto makers.

The corporation last month inked a MoU with Tata Motors for delivering various skill development programmes in the form of vocational subjects for 11th and 12th standard students in government schools. “We have identified some 2,900 schools for this programme. We will also set up driving schools in collaboration with state governments,” Chenoy said.

It has a tie-up with Mahindras for setting up a skill development centre, apart from Maruti and Honda for other training programmes. It is in the process of signing up with Toyota for another skill development centre.