Skilled Workforce Always Improves The Productivity: Prafulla Pathak Secretary, Power Sector Skill Council

The government is striving to give a boost to the power sector manufacturing in India and has developed a comprehensive plan to realize the vision of making the country self-reliant through ‘Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’.  Power Sector Skill Council (PSSC) created with a mandate to facilitate skill development across the Power Industry (covering Power Generation, Transmission, Distribution, Renewable Energy and Power Equipment Manufacturing), PSSC has been actively engaged in the task to deliver on the objectives with active support of industry stakeholders.

Shri Prafulla Pathak, Secretary-PSSC talks about skill training, job creation and employment chances.

Q With more than 15 years of working closely with the government, industry, global standards organizations, multilateral bodies, policymakers, etc. What would you say has changed in regard to approaching skill development in the country?

The awareness about the putting the skilled human resource and attitude to hire or appoint a skilled manpower, where over it is mandatory has taken an utmost importance. The employing such manpower enhances performance, increases efficiency and lessor possibility of errors resulting in losses. And the most important is the safety in otherwise risky workplaces. The hazardous situations are also considerably reduced. Thus awareness and importance of skill development sensed well by management and are serious about

QAs for your current role as the Secretary of the Skill Council, what are some of the programs you are spearheading to drive the skilling narrative of the nation?

The highly experienced human resource is available in the power sector skill council at all level. Thy expertise and experience together can develop a skilled and mature human resource from grass route level and above. Thus finding out appropriate skilled human resource and requesting thy services for betterment of otherwise unskilled ones to make them fit to perform better.

Q  The COVID-19 pandemic altered the skilling landscape in many ways, in terms of demands of skills, approach to skilling & changes to the curriculum. What do you believe is the biggest change that COVID has brought about to the skill ecosystem in India?

Every distress has an advantage. So is the Covid 19. The initial moments were furious. However, it’s human nature to found out a way for in such a situation. Covid19 has taught us to rethink traditional ways of going. At the same time, it tempts us to look at advantageous situations we have developed but not put in operation because of a tendency to continue with what we are. The biggest change, in my opinion, is earlier classrooms won’t allow mobiles or digital devices but now classrooms are inside digital devices.

So, an expert trainer, who else otherwise use to train trainers can now directly hook up with participants and interact digitally. His skill sets are naturally better than the one, who is trained by him and will be teaching to the unskilled resource. These expert skill teachings can be possible to attend from anyplace where there is data connectivity. Additionally, these videos if prepared, the unskilled manpower can go through it in his or her convenient time. The restriction of classroom place and time will not be there. The coaching can be replayed again and again and the proper understanding can be achieved.

Over all this, if there exist a situation of short in getting the learning, he or she can contact digitally to expert trainer and the response possible at both convenience. The middleman trainer, who had training from expert trainer, will have to enhance and perform or they may perish. However, unskilled one can have direct training from expert trainer.

Q  How do you see India playing a crucial role in the global skills and workforce ecosystem in the 2021s and beyond?

We have developed strong digital ecosystem however it was underutilized due to the traditional and “use to” way of life. Now, its use to optimum is expected and if there exist a shortcoming then strengthening it further can be look in. We have hardworking and intelligent generation with great deal of skill sets. It’s time to deliver the sane at globally. Out Indian human resource was performing very well out of country. Now here is our chance to be best being in country but delivering globally. The webinars and video meetings through new apps had advantage of staying domestic and deliver globally.

Q  The NEP 2020 has introduced important reform & placed vocational integration into the mainstream curriculum. What positive impact do you see emerging from this?

The basic advantage of this be the initial awareness and know-how to the otherwise unskilled ones. Thus the possibility maybe that our job to start from zero will not be a situation. The efforts put in will be less; the sane efforts may be utilized for better skilling.

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 introduced recently will change the face of the education and skill ecosystem in the coming time. The policy has a multi-disciplinary, value-based approach focusing on holistic education with special emphasis on skill development to improve the employability rate. Education should ideally be a mix of skilling and knowledge.

The NEP 2020 is very much aligned with the global practices and allows students to build their own degree by choosing a diverse range of subjects of their interest, which would provide ample opportunities to learn earn and enjoy together. Skills intensify the productiveness and quality of work for more significant results. In this era, many organizations prefer skilled employees over fresh ones. Skilled workforce always improves the productivity of the organization and they themselves are benefited by upgrading their skills and seek growth in their employment.