TN to create 15 million new jobs by 2015: CII

Chennai, Mar 21: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has urged the Tamil Nadu government to create a Skill Development Fund (SDF) of Rs 600 to 700 crore to cater to the growing manpower needs of the state.

The state would have to offer 13 to 15 million new (incremental) jobs, including about four million skilled and highly skilled professionals, and nine to 11 million unskilled manpower, by 2015.

These requirments primarily arise from automotive, IT and ITES, textiles, leather, light engineering, construction, and financial services sectors, according to the state-level skill Mapping Study conducted by CII.

The study was done to estimate the manpower requirements of Tamil Nadu's high-growth industries till 2015 and to map the skills currently available in the state.

It estimated that the additional educational infrastructure capable of training 80,000 students a year will have to be built in Tamil Nadu with public private partnership over the next decade to cater to the growing manufacturing and service sector of needs the state.

Such infrastructure includes engineering, arts, science and commerce colleges as well as polytechnics and ITIs.

To impart basic training to unskilled labour (primarily agricultural workforce) and enable them take up jobs in the State's industrial and service sectors, the Study urged the government to conceptualise and roll-out a Grassroot Level Skill Development Initiative (GlSDI), a large-scale skill-development initiative, covering around 0.8 million unskilled people annually.

The Government should conceptualise the formulation of curriculum for GLSDI by 2007; conduct trial runs in select districts by 2008, and roll-out the programme by 2009, it added.

The CII study suggested that the state could formulate and implement a Cluster Based Skill Development Initiative (CSDI) that would aim at developing the skills of manpower employed in a particular cluster, by involving the educational institutions and industries belonging to that cluster.

Each CSDI initiative should involve a mix of engineering colleges, diploma institutes, ITIs, arts and science colleges, and participating industries in that cluster to upgrade the skills of 700 to 1,000 students.

It also recommended that the government roll-out CSDI in the key industrial areas of Tamil Nadu, such as Chennai and Coimbattore, by 2008 and subsequently introduce the model to other parts of the State on a fast track basis.

The state would have to take the lead in establishing Centres of Excellence and Innovation (CEIs) for each key sector to impart the leading-edge skills to help it grow and remain competitive.

The CEIs would also be required to focus on research and development (R and D), on faculty development initiatives for other institutions in the State, and on curriculum development for courses relating to their industries.

It suggested that six to seven such CEIs covering the high-growth industrial sectors be established in key industrial areas, such as Chennai (automotives, and IT&ITES), Coimbatore (textile and light engineering) and Vellore (leather). And be gradually extended within the next two to three years.

The Study said the new employment opportunities would call for enhanced functional, sector-specific competencies and 'soft' skills such as time management and communication, and recommended a three-way partnership - among government, industry, and academia- for the development of manpower skills across the State.

UNI