Shri Jayant Sinha says with proper manpower skilling the civil aviation sector can create about 60 lakh jobs directly and indirectly in the next ten years

The Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Shri Jayant Sinha addressing at the inauguration of a workshop on Building Awareness on Aligning Skill Development in the Civil Aviation Sector with the National Skill Qualification Framework, in New Delhi on October 20, 2016. The Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge) and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, the Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Shri R.N. Choubey and other dignitaries are also seen.

The Minister of State for Civil Aviation Shri Jayant Sinha has said that the civil aviation sector has the potential to create about 10 lakh direct jobs in the next ten years. Given a six- fold multiplier effect that jobs in this sector have, this can lead to the creation of about 60 lakh jobs – direct and indirect – in the next ten years. As jobs in the civil aviation sector tend to be of high value, this would go a long way in improving the economic condition of a large number of young people. The Minister also said that the sector can reasonably be expected to grow at an average rate of about 10-12 % over the next ten years. However, to achieve this we first need to fill the gap between the demand for skilled manpower for a huge variety of trades in the sector, and the availability of the same. Stressing upon the need for world class training and skilling, he said that this can raise the employability of our people across the world. Shri Sinha also flagged the issue of non-availability of land to build airports as another constraint for growth of the sector.

The Minister was speaking at a workshop on Building Awareness on Aligning Skill Development in the Civil Aviation Sector with the National Skill Qualification Framework ( NSQF) in New Delhi today. The event was also attended by the Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy and senior officers of both ministries. Speaking on the occasion Shri Rudy informed that his ministry has developed about 1500 course curricula for training in various skills across ministries. The biggest challenge before his team has been to define the various kinds of skills and the ecosystem of each, define job roles and tailor the training programme accordingly. In this context he said that aligning a training programme to the National Skill Qualification Framework was very important as the framework provides for standardised, consistent, nationally acceptable outcomes of training across the country.

The event also saw the signing of an MoU between the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship for training of people in the various trades associated with the civil aviation sector. Shri Jayant Sinha hailed this memorandum of understanding as a momentous one.

Also speaking on the occasion Secretary Ministry of Civil Aviation Shri Rajiv Nayan Choubey said that the aim of the Ministry’s Civil Aviation Policy is to raise domestic ticketing from the present about 80 million to about 300 million. But for this to happen, we need to fill the existing gap in availability of skilled manpower. Shri Rohit Nandan, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship emphasized on the need for world class training across trades and levels as the civil aviation industry is international in nature. He also stressed upon the need for training to be uniform.

Officials of the two ministries held day long discussions on issues like NSQF, setting up of skill development centres and centres of excellence, training of trainers, identifying job roles, National Occupational Standards and other training related matters.