New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said India is well placed to be one of the largest providers of skilled workers globally while calling for rapid universalization of social security benefits for workers.
The prime minister said that the world is at the threshold of some of the greatest changes in the employment sector and stressed on the need to prepare responsive and effective strategies to address these rapid transitions.
In this era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the prime minister said, technology has become and will remain the core driver for employment. He highlighted India’s capability in creating countless tech-based jobs during the last such technology-led transformation.
PM Modi stressed that workers should be skilled with the use of advanced technologies and processes and said that skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling are the mantras for the future workforce.
He gave examples of India’s ‘Skill India Mission’ making this a reality, and ‘Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana’ which has trained more than 12.5 million of India’s youth so far. “Special focus is being laid on Industry ‘Four Point O’ sectors like Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Internet of Things, and Drones”, the prime minister added.
PM Modi highlighted the skills and dedication of India’s front-line health workers during Covid and said that it reflects India’s culture of service and compassion. He said that India has the potential to become one of the largest providers of skilled workforce in the world and a globally mobile workforce is going to be a reality in the future. He emphasized G20’s role in globalizing the development and sharing of skills in the true sense.
The prime minister commended the efforts of member nations to initiate the international referencing of occupations by skills and qualifications requirements. He said that it requires new models of international cooperation and coordination, and migration and mobility partnerships.
He suggested sharing statistics, information and data regarding employers and workers for a start which will empower countries across the globe to formulate evidence-based policies for better skilling, workforce planning, and gainful employment.
Concluding the address, the prime minister expressed confidence that this meeting will send out a strong message for the welfare of all workers worldwide. He appreciated the efforts being made by all dignitaries in addressing some of the most urgent issues in this field.
