State to have directory of skilled labourers soon

Kochi: Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE) will soon come up with a directory of skilled labourers in the state so that their expertise can be used in a more effective manner, a government official has said.

Most of the skilled labourers who work outside the country have the opportunity to work with cutting"edge technology, KASE, Managing Director, Sriram Venkitaraman said.

"Once they come back, how do we utilise their expertise and experience is the major question. The only sector which makes use of their expertise is training institutes," he added.

Their expertise should be extended to other fields too, Venkitaraman said at a panel discussion on "Entrepreneurship and employment in the changing world," here yesterday as part of India Skills Kerala 2018, organised by Industrial Training Department and KASE.

"For that, they need to be organised and an inventory of skilled labourers will be of immense help," he pointed out.

Prominent industrialists who joined the discussion extended their support for the project, which will not only compile data of skilled workers but also enable the government utilise their expertise in various fields, Venkitaraman said.

He said though highlighting the significance of skilling is the need of the hour, not much is spoken about it adding KASE is planning to certify skilled labourers.

"Recognition of their knowledge is a must and industrial players must help us in this regard to identify them so that, our task to certify them could be made smoother. Besides, it would also help us to meet the demand of skilled labourers with right kind of supply," he said.

Leading industrialists N M Sharafudeen, Vivek Govind, S R Nair, Navas Meeran and Deepak L Aswani also took part in the panel discussion.