'India will face shortfall of techies by 2010'

Tiruchirapalli, May 8: Despite India being a leading provider of Information Technology (IT) and Information Technology Enabling Services (ITES) sector, the country could face a shortfall of five lakh IT professionals by 2010, says Anna University (Tiruchirapalli) Vice-Chancellor V Ramachandran.

Inaugurating the Finishing School for Engineering Graduates at the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli (NITT) he said it would be a major challenge to the government, academic institutions and industry to collectively address the issue.

Quoting McKinsey Global Institute study and National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), he said only 25 per cent of the engineering students, who graduate every year, are in the employable category.

The employability of engineering students suffers due to lack of technical and soft skills.

The enormous gap in the employability is to be addressed by all means and for that the industries should also develop some programmes for the graduates, he added.

In his address NIIT Director M Chidambaram said to address the immediate requirements of the industry and create employability for the engineering graduates, the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development had brought out the novel concept of Finishing Schools on a pilot basis in May and June, this year.

Eight institutions, including IIT, Roorkee and seven NITs located at Tiruchirapalli, Surathkal, Warangal, Jaipur, Durgapur, Kozhikode and Kurushetra were enlisted by the ministry to conduct the programme.

The programme has twin objectives of offering suitable candidates to IT industry and helping graduates to find jobs through appropriate training without expecting them to spend additional time.

The programme will run for eight weeks, in which the students will be given periodical feedback on their performance and also a final mock examination to improve their chances of getting jobs. As many as 65 engineering graduates, including 23 girls, would be trained in the finishing school, he added.

UNI