India’s demographic dividend will remain till 2050: Skill Devp Secy

Jodhpur, Feb 2: With a younger workforce, India’s demographic dividend will remain till 2050, and the dependency rate will be less than in other countries, a central government official said.
India has a younger workforce, while the workforce in Japan is older. The decline has started in China as well, and many people in the European countries are older and looking to this factor, India’s position will remain better, the official added.
“India’s demographic dividend will remain till 2047 or 2050. Dependency rate will be less than other countries,” Atul Kumar Tiwari, Secretary of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, said at a press conference on the first day of the 3-day G20 Employment Working Group meeting in Jodhpur.
He said that a framework is needed for giving skills to the workforce and qualifications harmonisation efforts are required.
Sharing the details of the panel discussion on the first day of the meeting, Tiwari said that the discussion was very insightful.
The discussion was on “Exploring strategies for global skills and qualifications harmonisation and developing a framework for common skill taxonomies”.
“During the discussion, it seemed that most of the countries recognise that during COVID and due to the new technology that is coming, there have been fundamental changes in the nature of skills.
“We are entering a situation where there will be a need to keep upskilling as the shelf life of skills has come down to three to four years. There was also discussion about micro-credentials that what should be the role of employers,” he said.
An official statement said the panel discussion focused on global trends on skill shortages, surpluses and mismatches, deliberated on the means to plug these skills deficits, and development of a collaborative road map for global skills and qualifications harmonisation.
The diverse perspectives and expertise of the panellists provided an overview of the current state of skills and qualifications harmonisation efforts, and led to an engaging discussion on a need to capture and harmonise skill taxonomies at a more granular level.
The discussions provided fruitful insights into the need for advancing the skills and qualification sector and creating a more harmonised and inclusive global skills landscape.
The Chair summed up the recommendations by the panel by emphasising the need for having international dialogue and cooperation on skills harmonisation and bilateral/ multilateral partnerships on mutual recognition of skills and certifications, the statement said.
Delegates from the G20 countries, guest nations, international and national organisations and other prominent international and national experts attended the discussion.
Officers from several central and state government agencies, representatives from industry bodies, academia and the chair of the Labour-20 Engagement Group also participated.
India is hosting delegates from 19 countries, European Union and 9 guest countries and 9 regional and international organisations. (PTI)