NASSCOM to launch NAC in NE region

Chennai,July 5: NASSCOM, the premier trade body of IT, Software and Services industry, will launch Assessment of competence (NAC), a standard assessment and certification programme to ensure the transformation of 'trainable' workforce into an 'employable workforce' to the North Eastern states.

Talking to newspersons here today NASSCOM President Kiran Karnik said "in order to develop entry-level human-power, especially for the BPO industry, and equip them with relevant hard and soft skills that ensure employability, NASSCOM will be launching NAC programmes across the NE region".

He pointed out NAC successfully completed its pilot phase in 2006 and was rolled out in Rajasthan where 2500 people took the NAC test.

"As the programme is successful, by the end of the year, NAC will be rolled out in various states including Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Chandigarh, Andhra Pradesh, North Eastern states and West Bengal amongst others", he said, adding in order to build a mindshare for NAC, awareness campaigns were being organised in colleges and universities in these regions, before the test is conducted.

"Students are being briefed about the BPO industry and the opportunities it offers in terms of jobs", Mr Kiran said.

He said in the future, NAC will help allign education curriculum offered by iniversities and colleges in the country with the needs of the ITES-BPO sector.

"The initiative is also expected to help ITES-BPO players reduce their hiring costs, improve efficiencies, enlarge the candidate pool and perhaps more importantly reduce, if not remove the current escalation the market is seeing in entry level wages", he added.

UNI