Budget 2022: DESH-Stack portal for skilling draws praise  

The announcement to set up a DESH-Stack online skilling platform in the country and the Budget’s overall focus on skilling has drawn appreciation from the industry as stakeholders have been highlighting the widening skill gap in the job market.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget 2022 speech on Tuesday said a Digital Ecosystem for Skilling and Livelihood or DESH-Stack e-portal will be launched to empower citizens to skill, reskill or upskill through on-line training. “It will also provide API-based trusted skill credentials, payment and discovery layers to find relevant jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities,” she said.

“The setting up of a world-class Digital University and the DESH-Stack e-portal for upskilling, reskilling and cross-skilling will place India as a global hub for talent,” said staffing and recruitment firm Randstad India’s MD & CEO PS Viswanath.

“Digital DESH to reskill youth is a good initiative and I hope this will act as a central database of learners signing up for vocational skills, certifications and creates a continuous learning path for each learner,” said Neeti Sharma, co-founder and President of TeamLease Edtech

Other skilling-related announcements include allowing world-class foreign universities and institutions in the GIFT City (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City) to offer courses in Financial Management, FinTech, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The institutions will be free from domestic regulations, except those by IFSCA, to facilitate availability of high-end human resources for financial services and technology, Sitharaman said.

“The permission to allow foreign universities to offer courses in FinTech, Financial Management, and Science and Technology is also a positive step in improving the quality of education in our country,” said UNext Learning CEO Ambrish Sinha.

Further, Sitharaman also said the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) will be aligned with dynamic industry needs. “Skilling programmes and partnership with the industry will be reoriented to promote continuous skilling avenues, sustainability, and employability,” she said.

“The effort to align the National Skill Qualification Framework with industry demands will encourage the fresh graduates and young professionals of our country to not only upskill in digital competencies but also progress on the path of lifelong learning that is going to be inevitable in the coming years to stay job-relevant. The move to further offer jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities will encourage the youth to power ahead in their careers at a faster pace,” said Mohan Lakhamraju, Founder and CEO, Great Learning.

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