Mumbai: There is a need for a skilled
work-force and reforms in education, Planning Commission
Member, Narendra Jadhav said, while emphasising the importance
of the demographic dividend for India's economic growth.
"There is a need for a considerable strengthening and
reform in the education system and skill mechanisms if we
envision becoming an economic super power harnessing the
demographic dividend," Jadhav said at an International Summit
on Skills Development here today.
India needs to succeed in maintaining the momentum of
economic growth and sustained growth, which is possible only
if the growth process becomes "inclusive"--with the
involvement of all strata of Indian society, Jadhav said.
The country is now entering the demographic dividend
phase with the age group 15-59 population increasing at 2.29
per cent per annum, he said.
By 2020, the average Indian will be only 29 years old,
compared to 37 in China and USA each, 45 in Western Europe
and 48 in Japan, he said.
"We will have a distinct advantage of a large labour
force. This situation can give (India) leverage in the global
market by (making it) more competitive," he said.
Jadhav said that the dependency ratio has
witnessed a decline from 0.8 in 1991 and is expected to go
down sharply to 0.59 by 2011.
"This implies that there would be a large and growing
labour force, which can be expected to deliver large-scale
spin-offs in terms of growth and prosperity," he said.
RBI's Deputy Governor Dr Subir Gokarn who also spoke at
the Summit, said that the inclusive growth agenda was
critically dependent on labour force transition, which in turn
was dependent on formation.
"Skill development and education is very critical to
sustain in the competitive world if we have to achieve a
double-digit growth," he said.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, September 08, 2010, 22:59