On the other side of the increase in population in the country, the growth in income is removed.

- A huge population should be an asset rather than a liability for the country

In 2023, India is expected to become the nation with the largest population in the world, leaving behind China. In terms of per capita income, India ranks 144th among 194 countries. Lack of proficiency or skills in India's population is considered to be the main reason for lagging behind in per capita income. It can be said from China's economic progress that China, which has more population than India, has succeeded in making its huge population more assets than its liabilities. The reason behind China's economic progress has been its success on the export front. And this success he has achieved by equipping his workforce with professional training. India is projected to outnumber the young over the next decade, with the retirement age likely to outnumber the working class, a report has suggested. In such a scenario, the possibility of a decline in per capita income in the country is not ruled out. If per capita income is to be increased, it is necessary to increase productivity by providing adequate education and vocational training to the youth of the country.

With the increase in India's population, the world's population has also crossed the eight billion dollar mark. Thus, India has considered the increase in world population as an opportunity to start efforts to become a supplier of goods and services globally. In recent figures, India's manufacturing sector activity has been the fastest globally in the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) released for the November manufacturing sector of various countries around the world. Russia is second after India. Out of 31 countries' manufacturing PMIs, 23 countries' PMIs remained below 50, indicating weak manufacturing activity. The PMI of China, America, European countries and Japan has remained within 50.

Currently, the growth in the manufacturing sector is seen as a result of high demand at home. India has to provide quality products and services to the world as per their requirement if it wants to place its manufacturing sector at the global level. For which skill is the first requirement. Lack of adequate skills in India cannot increase national income. Out of the youth who are out for employment in the country, very few are those who have employable skills or training. A strong education system is essential for adequate skilling among the youth.

In addition to the education system, vocational training is equally required. However, schemes like Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana are not seeing the expected results. According to recent reports, the Parliament's Standing Committee has expressed displeasure with the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana despite the revamping of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana as issues such as poor placement and indifference in utilization of funds for the scheme persist.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana-3, out of approximately four lakh certified candidates, 30600 or only seven and a half percent of the candidates could get jobs till June 30 of the current year. Of the Rs 686 crore released for the scheme, only 43 per cent or Rs 295 crore was used for providing vocational training. The Committee also expressed its displeasure that though adequate funds were released for skilling, they could not be utilised.

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana-3 has come up with the aim of providing training to the youth in accordance with the current job market and meeting the market demand. Issues including lack of requisite teachers to provide training, limited availability of placement partners due to low industrialization are proving to be obstacles to the success of the scheme.

With the economic reforms, new technology and machinery started arriving in the country which required a more skilled workforce to operate. The government has set a target to provide employment to one million people by the end of December 2023 and to fulfill this target, government level jobs have also started to be provided, but how many of the people who are being provided employment are getting employment according to their skills. Whether or not industries are getting the manpower they require is a subject of study.

Automation is being widely adopted by industries but no specific information is made available from the government on the type of skilling required for it. How can the government figure out where and how much to invest in skilling in the absence of accurate information? Such questions are also being asked from many levels.

Unless adequate education and vocational training is provided to the youth seeking employment in today's era of automation, our growing population will remain a liability rather than an asset.