Budget 2019 and Skilling
Need for Upskilling Indian Youth – Sudeshna Datta, Co-Founder and Executive Vice President, Absolutdata
With technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics disrupting the very nature of industries, there is an urgent need for upskilling and reskilling the Indian youth. Therefore, we hope more funds will be allocated towards the development of tech-based skill-building and training programmes.
Provisions for academia – Shekhar Sanyal, Director and Country Head, IET India
The work environment is changing at a rapid pace, the government needs to set aside resources to ensure that the country creates an ecosystem for the future of work and skill development, to enable Indians to be globally valuable and competitive. The government regulatory framework around skilling and future of skilling and work require continuous research and input which the budget should allow for. We hope to see more provisions for academia to spend on new technologies and expand their facilities to help students with exposure to real-time application of new-age technologies.
Re-classification of Re-skilling in GST – Vineet Chaturvedi, Co-Founder, Edureka
The future of the Indian professional sector, especially IT and IT services, hangs on how soon they can adopt the skills relevant to future economies. Investments in skills and education can be directly mapped to a country’s commitment to economic growth, and at the moment, a re-skilling allowance for all tax-paying individuals can be a catalyst for faster and wider adoption of skills. There is already talk of the government planning on incentivizing corporates to invest in skilling their workforce, but a rebate that treats skills on par with allowances such as HRA, LTA, DA is the need of the hour to help retain our country’s reputation as a skill powerhouse and give a boost to our GDP. Also, a re-classification of re-skilling in GST to treat it as a necessity and not a luxury would help accelerate up-skilling among Indian professionals.
Skill Manpower for Employment Boost – Javed Tapia, MD and CEO, Clover Infotech
The Indian IT services industry is at a watershed moment. It has strongly aligned itself to ride the global digital transformation wave. There is a huge demand for skilled talent in IT services and the budget should earmark funds to address this. A thriving IT services sector will not only augment exports but also fuel the growth of our consumption economy. The government must introduce favourable policies, tax benefits etc. for skilling manpower and provide much needed employment boost. Enabling IT companies to strengthen India’s digital capabilities and train and employ human capital to seamlessly work on new-age digital technologies is the need of the hour.
