INDIA’S government has decided to commission studies to boost overseas job prospects for Indians.
The decision was taken in the first meeting of the governing body of the council for promotion of overseas employment, which operates under the ministry of overseas Indian affairs in New Delhi.
Chaired by the secretary of the ministry, K Mohandas, the body decided that the studies would identify emerging labour supply and skills shortages in the international labour market.
There will also be a review of skills development, vocational training and pre-departure orientation training systems in India.
The study is expected to recommend interventions for standardised curricula, and testing to discourage emigration of workers without appropriate skills and knowledge/ orientation. The council also decided to carry out focused studies on household service workers and on the hospitality and healthcare sector, in order to identify skill gaps internationally.
The council’s governing body approved the holding of job fairs, which will be “country specific and sector specific”.
In addition, it intends to hold workshops aimed at providing potential recruiters and Indian recruitment businesses with further information.
According to the ministry of overseas Indian affairs, the council for promotion of overseas employment is a “major exercise” in promoting overseas employment of Indians and enhancing “quality migration” from India.
The statement continued: “The council operates as a strategic think tank for helping out intending emigrants to reap the dividends of globalisation.
“About five million Indians are living and working mostly in the Gulf and southeast Asia who account for nearly 50 per cent of the foreign remittances of the country. In 2006, they remitted an estimated $26bn".
However, despite these moves, India’s prime minister says that ways must be developed to stem the ‘brain drain’ from India.
During a speech at Madras University earlier this month, prime minister Manmohan Singh commented: “I urge all our political leaders to understand the central importance of education in the development of our country.
“We have to devise ways and means to facilitate the reverse flow of global Indian talent resident abroad into our knowledge institutions.”
