Invest in soft skills for enhanced workforce employability: Maharashtra minister Deepak Kesarkar

New Delhi: While the upcoming interim budget is expected to have welfare schemes that benefit the common man, it should also invest in upgrading soft skills like languages, Maharashtra’s education minister Deepak Kesarkar, who represented the state in the latest GST council meet, told Mint. This, he believes, would empower the country's workforce to fully harness its demographic advantages, particularly in international contexts.

The Indian workforce, one of the youngest in the world, is increasingly looking for employment opportunities abroad, Kesarkar, who represents Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena, said. He added that training them in foreign languages, not restricted to English, will improve such employability prospects.

"The schemes to skill our workforce by the prime minister have found success. Various agreements signed by India with developed countries like ones with Europe can provide impetus for employment," Kesarkar said.

"However, trained manpower will need to have language skills if India is to be a major manpower supplier globally. We hope that the budget has measures to further empower our workforce (on soft skills like language, etc.)," Kesarkar added.

According to EY, India is expected to be home to 1 billion working-age adults by 2030. This translates to India supplying about one-fourth of the world's incremental workforce over the next decade. Meanwhile, most major developed economies including that of Europe will see a lower number of people joining their workforce in the coming decades due to declining population.

"There is an attraction for India and its culture, which we have seen from the success of the G20 Meet. And there is a huge demand for Indian skilled manpower in the developed countries, which is a positive signal," Kesarkar said.

On the issue of inflation, Kesarkar said that the central and the state government measures have paid off in containing price rise, especially on the food inflation front.

The Maharashtra government is working with the central government to fight inflation, he said.

"On the other hand, the Maharashtra state government has also rolled out various schemes to help farmers, which includes compensating for losses during heavy rainfall. These have benefited the farmers," he added.

Kesarkar said that the latest decisions by the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council to put unbranded flour containing 70% millets in the tax-free category and reducing GST on molasses from 28% to 5% comes as a major relief to farmers in his state.

"All states have made their representations, which were considered while making decisions. This shows the federal strength of the country," Kesarkar added.