Our Bureau

New Delhi, Feb. 28 The growth in the various sectors of the economy could be achieved only if supported by appropriate skill development programmes at various levels. Shortage of skilled workforce can push inflationary costs and erode price advantages, the Economic Survey has observed.

“Wage costs are rising due to the lack of skilled workforce, which not only contributes to push inflation but also may end up eroding the advantages in some traceable sectors of the economy,” it said.

The survey also said that skill shortage will manifest itself as a problem of retention and attrition in fast-growing knowledge-based industries as well as in important social services like health and hospitality.

Observing that the enormous demand for professionals cannot be met by the public sector alone, the survey called for the entry of private and non-government sectors, such as recognised universities and institutions, to create a talent pool.

It suggested the introduction of liberalised norms for the entry of reputed foreign universities in the country. “There is also a need to set up a system of skill standardisation and certification for over 6,000 odd skills required by the industry,” it said.

The survey also called for transfer of management controls of ITIs and other Government training institutions through the bidding process. However, scholarships would be available for the economically weaker students.

Suggesting a policy reform in the Factories Act, the survey called for increasing the work week to 60 hours (from 48 hours) and daily limits to 12 hours, to meet seasonal demand through overtimes.

The survey also called for imparting training to teachers to offset the shortage of trained faculty in the higher education sphere.

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