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It's time India had a Skills Minister. Oh wait, it already has!

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India must rid the 'Scams India' tag and acquire the title of 'Skills India'. Narendra Modi has voiced those four words at least half a dozen times after he became the prime minister. Soon after taking charge, he said that his government would soon create a ministry for entrepreneurship and skills development.

By then, he had already handed the portfolio to Sarbananda Sonowal, who also happens to be minister of Youth Affairs and Sports. But for some reason, the news has not gone around. Even his colleagues in the council of ministers are not aware that there is a minister for Skills.

Parliament too is blissfully unaware. To an "unstarred" question (No 580, Lok Sabha, July 14) on skills development from MPs Ravneet Singh and Mausam Noor, the answer did not come from Sonowal but from Minister of State for Steel, Mines and Labour & Employment Vishnu Deo Sahai. Whether Sonowal even raised his head when the question was tabled is not known.

What is known is that when the British Council and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) released a research report on 'Skills Assessment in India' at an event on Thursday, neither was there any sign of Sonowal there nor was there any mention of him. Some of the participants at the event were heard saying "it's time India had a minister for Skills like Britain has".

The UK has a 'minister for Skills'. So does Sri Lanka. Their identities are well known in those countries. Sonowal, on the other hand, seems to possess skills to remain invisible.

Sources say without a separate ministry in place, nothing much can be expected from the minister. "Skills development policy alone will not deliver. The government has a national policy on this, and bodies such as the Skills Development Agency. They predate the Modi government. Now, the PM has said that a separate ministry will be created," a high government official told dna. "Till then questions on skills development and policy will be fielded by any of the stakeholders including the minister for Labour & Employment."

The UPA governments did not have a dedicated minister for the portfolio but there was some movement on this front during its 10-year rule though Modi, when he was the chief minister of Gujarat, had criticised the centre for lacking a "vision" on skills development.

That said, Modi should know that his minister is mostly missing from the skills development-script as it is being written. When the British Council-ILO report was released, Sonowal did not know that it makes an important point: The need to grow the pool of independent trained skill assessors five-fold by 2019.

Good thinking. And if it happens, good news. The assessors are an important quality check in any rapidly growing skill eco-system. Industry sectors (such as) building & construction, textiles & clothing and organised retail need the most number of assessors.

"Skills development is important for India-UK partnerships," said Rob Lynes, director, British Council, India. His words would have gone straight home if Sonowal was present at the report launch, which was followed by lunch. Sonowal missed the launch, as well as the lunch. British Council and ILO missed neither Sonowal, nor the lunch!

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