Made in India workers for US, Europe, Australia

India will train its workforce for the world market. The human resource development ministry has come up with a plan that would increase job opportunities for Indians in the US, Germany and Australia.

International markets will open up for Indian workers as the government is reworking its vocational education system to meet the demands of the world market, a ministry official said. At present, a major chunk of those working abroad is based in the Gulf as the US and the European markets are closed for them.

The reason: they do not have degrees to certify special skills.
But things will change once the Union cabinet clears the HRD ministry’s proposal as workers would then have country-specific vocational skills, the official said. Most countries are in dire need of skilled workers and the process to provide them with such a workforce has been going on for the past few years in the form of bilateral agreements between India and various countries, he said.

During Hillary Clinton’s (US secretary of state) last visit to the country, India signed an agreement with the US to ensure that Indians trained in vocational colleges in the country are recognised in the US. In effect it means if the US market needs workers adept at precision engineering jobs, Indians could grab the opportunity, the official said.

Kapil Sibal, Union HRD minister, is scheduled to participate in the US-India Higher Education Summit and Dialogue with Hillary Clinton on October 13. The ministry is expecting matters to take a formal shape during this convention.

Not only the US, but also Germany, Japan, Brazil and Australia have a dearth of skilled workers. “The automobile or the hardware industries need skilled manpower,” another ministry official said. “We want our men to be prepared to take a shot at these jobs.”
The National Vocational Qualification Framework will set high quality and competency standards, he said. “This will help Indians to get a job easily in foreign countries.”

India has signed three MoUs with Germany to form “Sector Skill Councils” that would develop trainers. The German Rhine-Main Chamber of Crafts and Trades has signed an agreement with India’s Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd to build 100 training institutes on the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor. These will train Indian workers in skills needed by German companies.