Nasscom’s skill registry plans lag

Nasscom, the country’s information technology and business process outsourcing trade body, is experiencing less-than-expected growth in registration for the national skills registry (NSR). This, after missing its initial target for enrolment.

The NSR, an employee database of the IT and BPO industry, was launched in January 2006 to counter fake resumes and create a unified and dedicated database for the industry.

Nasscom expected to record 5 lakh registrations by March 2008. However, that target was achieved only by mid-2009. As of February 2010, the number of registrations stands at just 5.93 lakh. The IT and BPO industry employs over 22 lakh people.

NSR registrations consist of educational qualifications, personal details and employment details. It also requires applicants to submit passport number, permanent account number, details of qualifications, year of passing, name of the board/ university, roll numbers and details of past and present employment.

“The (current) situation is that people are leaving without a reliving letter, which is an alarming trend and is the biggest indication of trouble. The next stage may be background checking going down or quality going down… only solution is that we have a central database which is used by all firms. But sadly, there is no such database. The national skills registry is a good initiative, but there are hardly any takers for it, and even Nasscom has lost interest in it,” the founder of a BPO firm told DNA on condition of anonymity.

According to the Nasscom data, 83 companies have joined the NSR initiative, comprising over 70% of the IT/ IT-enabled service workforce.