Lok Sabha Question No. 620 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-07-24
Subject: Digitalising Initiatives
Ministry: SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Asked by: Beesetti  Venkata Satyavathi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO - 620

ANSWERED ON - 24/07/2023

## DIGITALISING INITIATIVES

## 620.  DR. BEESETTI VENKATA SATYAVATHI:

Will the Minister of SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP be pleased to state:-

- (a) whether it is true that despite various digitalising initiatives, less than 42 per cent of the country's youth has an understanding of basic functions on a computer;

(b)  whether  the  Government  identifies  reasons  for  this  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof;

- (c) the steps taken by the Government to upskill the workforce in Information Technology or computer based skills; and
- (d) whether any initiatives has been taken by the Government to introduce training in highly specialised areas like artificial intelligence and automation in manufacturing and production processes in view of the changing job market and digital transformations?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  SKILL  DEVELOPMENT  AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

(SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR)

- (a) and (b) Sir. There is no such study available with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
- (c)  In  order  to  upskill  the  workforce  in  Information  Technology  or  computer  based  skills across  the  country,  Ministry  of  Skill  Development  and  Entrepreneurship  (MSDE)  through National  Skill  Development  Corporation  (NSDC)  has  facilitated  the  setting  up  of  IT-ITeS Sector Skill Council, an industry led body, to develop National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) aligned job roles and course curriculum, conduct skill gap studies and assess and certify trainees exclusively in Information Technology.

In last 2 financial years (i.e., 2021-23), around 5.5 lakh candidates have been trained in  IT  sector  including  computer  based  skills  and  assessed  by  IT-ITeS  SSC  under  various Government  and  Non-Government  programmes  such  as  Pradhan  Mantri  Kaushal  Vikas Yojana,  National  Urban  Livelihood  Mission,  Corporate  Social  Responsibility  projects,  etc. Some of the key courses are Data Entry Operator, Bio metric Data Entry Operator, IT Help Desk Attendant, etc.

Further, under long-term training provided through Craftsmen Training Scheme (CTS), digital skills are a mandatory part of the Employability Skills curriculum being imparted in all Industrial  Training  Institute  (ITI)  courses  and  all  ITIs  are  equipped  with  IT  labs  for  digital skilling. The Information Technology forms an integral part of various CTS trades.  More than one  lakh  candidates  have  been  enrolled  in  the  computer  related  courses  in  the  academic session 2022.

In addition, the Directorate General of Training in collaboration with IBM (under CSR) is  also  conducting  a  2  Year  Advance  Diploma  (Vocational)  in  IT,  Networking  and  Cloud Computing (NSQF Level-6) in National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) across the country for ITI students of all trades. In current session, a total of 329 students have been enrolled under this course.

(d) In order to re-skill and up-skill IT-professionals to be adept with the emerging technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI), IT-ITeS Sector Skill Council in partnership with Ministry of Electronics  and  Information  Technology  (MeitY)  has  launched  FutureSkills  Prime  (FSP) platform. A learner can seamlessly access free and paid content on all the skills of the future, virtual labs, undergo assessments and get certified on FutureSkills Prime platform in diverse range  of  117  courses  in  the  fields  of  AI  and  Big  Data,  Cloud  Computing,  Cyber  Security, Internet  of  Things  (IOT),  Robotic  Process  Automation  (RPA),  BlockChain,  3D  Printing  etc. Chat GPT awareness courses are also available. In last 3 years (till date), around 13 lakh learners have successfully completed training modules in AI and Big Data.

Furthermore,  IT-ITeS  SSC  has  developed  55  NSQF  (National  Skills  Qualification Framework) aligned job roles under Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Analytics, Internet of Things,  Cloud  Computing,  Web  &  Mobile  Development,  Robotic  Process  Automation,  IT Marketing, Block Chain and Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality.

Also, Directorate General of Training (DGT) under MSDE has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IBM, CISCO, Quest Alliance, Microsoft, Adobe India and Systems, Applications & Products in Data Processing (SAP) for imparting short term training courses in new age technologies  including  Artificial  Intelligence  (AI)  through  Bharat  Skills  -  a  Central Repository for Skills, to make the trainees industry ready. Since 2019, 22.97 lakh candidates have been trained under this initiative.

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