Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

“Education, skill development must be integral to growth process”

— Photo: K. Ananthan

High growth:Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor K.C. Chakrabarty addressing ‘Voice of Tomorrow', an initiative of

COIMBATORE: Education and skill development should be an integral process of the growth process in the country, according to Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India K.C. Chakrabarty.

Speaking at ‘Voice of Tomorrow – Fuel to Excel,' organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore, and The Hindu here on Saturday, he said that youth and entrepreneurs would be the voice of the future. It should be a collective aim for all to enable the country register 10 per cent growth for the next 20 years.

India is the only country where the working population will increase for the next 20 years. In such a scenario, education and skill development should be an integral part of the growth process. “If we are not able to create skills of global standards, the demographic dividend will be a demographic disaster,” he said.

The education process should be vocation oriented and industry-institute interaction was important for this. Skill gap would be costly for the economy. Infrastructure was another important sector. Energy security and alternative clean energy were needed for the manufacturing sector to grow.

Innovation was needed in food and energy. Successful models in a State should be replicated by other States too.

Technology should be used more effectively to bring down the cost of production.

As the economy grows and with a huge young population, more would aspire for high quality education. After their education and getting employment, the next requirement would be quality shelter. On the lines of food and education for all, the endeavour should be towards shelter for all. There would be tremendous credit demand for education and housing. And education and shelter should be available at affordable costs. “Inclusive growth should be the goal of the entire society,” he said.

The RBI plan was to ensure that in the next five years, every individual and household in the country should have access to banking services. This would enable people to participate more effectively in the economy and society. Millions of micro and small-scale entrepreneurs should be created. “High growth is not sustainable with high inflation,” he said.

M. Narendra, Chairman and Managing Director of Indian Overseas Bank, said India now offered several opportunities. Hence, it was important to not just prepare for the present but for the future too.

The country should be able to achieve the current rate of growth for the next three or four decades. It should address issues such as development of human resource, infrastructure, urban and rural areas and economic reforms.

The country had a large youth population and they were the greatest strength. He urged the participants to work hard, aim high, have a broader vision of their endeavours, and break boundaries. Industries should focus on the customer and follow the best management practices. It was important to reach out to every one. Economic inclusion would be a co-ordinated effort. Former presidents of the chamber K.G. Balakrishnan and D. Balasundaram, chairman of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Coimbatore, B.K. Krishnaraj Vanvarayar, and vice-president of the chamber P.R. Vittal also spoke.

M. Krishnan, President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore, said in an effort to commemorate 82 years of the chamber's activities here, it was organising 82 programmes with different concepts. The objective was to ensure economic development here and provide a forum for the youth and entrepreneurs to interact with industrial leaders.

D. Raj Kumar, Regional General Manager of The Hindu, Coimbatore, said this was the second programme in the ‘Voice of Tomorrow' series. The aim was to enable future leaders to emerge from this platform. D. Nandakumar, secretary of the association, spoke.

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