Not Even 31% Students Have Employable Talent In Odisha, Says India Skill Report 2021

Bhubaneswar: This is no music to the ears of Odisha. It seems the skill development in the State is battling with serious problems. Odisha neither has scored big in employability nor in the availability of the skills in demand. The India Skills Report 2021 released recently has bared the chinks in the State's Skill Development Mission.

In the high table of 'skill developed' states nationally, Odisha is yet to find a place when the fact is CM Naveen Patnaik himself has harped big on developing the State as the nerve centre of skill development in the country.

Odisha has failed to make a cut into the top-10 list in the availability of skills in the country. The India Skills Report 2021 finds Odisha is nowhere in the availability of skills in the arena of English (as 2nd language), numerical ability, critical thinking and computers.

Moreover, despite the big emphasis on skill development in the State, even the Budget 2021 presented in Odisha Assembly had set aside Rs 100 crore to set a World Skill Centre in Capital City, Odisha fails to sit at the high table of top-10 states in employability.

The shocker is not even 31 per cent of students in Odisha have employable talent, which means the skills acquired by them are not sufficient to find a suitable job.

This seems a big embarrassment for the State because employability means workforce joining the jobs market who can get readily absorbed in the industries as per their skill requirements.

The report is prepared by Wheebox in association with CII (Confederation Of Indian Industries), AICTE and UNDP.

EMPLOYABILITY HIGH TABLE

As per the report, in states having the highest employable talent, backward states like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh scored big in the country. Neighbouring states like West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh have also been counted among the states in the country with high employable talent. (see the image given below).

SKILL AVAILABILITY MAPPING

The India Skills Report 2021 puts a glare on how Odisha is seen lagging in the availability of the skills that are in demand - English (as 2nd language), Numerical skills, Critical thinking and Computer).

Despite a non-Hindi State, and where all the college curriculum is in English, Odisha is not among the top-10 in the country, where employable talent in English skill is available.

The big fact for the State is Assam and Madhya Pradesh (a Hindi-speaking State) find a place in the top-10 states in India with employable skills in English as a second language.

In the availability of employable computer skills, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal edged past Odisha to occupy the high-ten table in the country.

TOP - TEN EMPLOYABLE CITIES

Despite Bhubaneswar topping the Smart City list in round -1 itself, the city is nowhere in the country's employability map; whereas Nellore, even as it is not enlisted in the Smart City challenge, occupied 8th rank in the country in employability.

WHY ODISHA FARED POOR?

As per the report, there are two reasons behind the flop show by the State. They are:

• Lacking in of efforts in the arena of skill development by the government and academic institutions here. And the second is..
• The Report says, "The employability rate is also a direct result of the available opportunities in each area."

The Big Takeaway is notwithstanding high sounding claims, Odisha lacks in giving a mega push to skill development in crucial skills, and also the State churns out fewer job opportunities for the skilled youths here, which together had a deleterious impact on employability in the State.