Indian Rural Youth are the Future of the Country! But They Need Upskilling

India needs strong skill development initiatives to upskill its growing rural youth

The need for skilling and upskilling the youth of a developing nation is not new. With the pandemic, the Indian economy plunged by landfall. The adoption of remote working environments, learning new skills, and unlearning old ways of performing tasks became crucial for the working class in India. But a recent economic survey held by the Government of India reveals that the Indian rural youth are still lagging in skills training. The data shows that around 3% of the male citizens in rural India were subjected to receiving the benefits of skill development compared to the 7% of the urban male youth. The condition is even worse for the female youth residing in the rural part of the country, depicting that around 2% of the women received skilling courses, in comparison to the 6% of urban female youth. The skilling ecosystem of India needs a better plan to enable a bright future for the rural youth. The rural youth continue to struggle with a lack of passion and aspiration; infact, the rising number of school dropouts and lack of vocational training in high school also add up to the dilemma. The professionals of becoming a doctor, engineer, or lawyer are still glorious for Indian parents, but the urban population acquires far more opportunities to acquire these goals than the ones residing in the rural parts of India. There is a strong need for collaboration between government, corporates, and non-profits to strengthen and diversify the rural skilling ecosystem.

Why is Rural India lagging behind?

Unemployment has been a major concern in India even before the pandemic hit, the situation just worsened when the series of lockdowns hit. Adding to the concerns is India’s raging technological advancement, which is accelerating mass job shortages in the country as cutting-edge technologies like AI, machine learning, and robotics continue to replace human intelligence. The future of India will require more employers to come up with ways to harness the human potential and empower the rural youth of the country through education, new learnings, and upskilling. In the present era of digital technology, the existence of companies is liable on how they leverage these advanced technologies to transform their workplaces, and how many trained resources they possess. Some of the top skills that are currently in demand across all sectors in India include data scientist, big data, cloud, management, programming, and web development to name a few. Online platforms such as Upgrad, Coursera, and Linkedin Learning offer several courses that aid in bridging this skills gap

The Benefits of Upskilling for the Indian Rural Youth

Constant upskilling can empower budding professionals by ensuring they leverage their demands when they raise. Through upskilling, not only will they reveal how these new skills can benefit the company, but also provide a strong point to enhance their financial remunerations. Learning new skills will enable professionals the opportunity to speed up their working patterns. Implementing the new skills would not only benefit the work life but also help them become more productive and satisfied at work. Upskilling will also cast a positive impact on one’s personality and a chance to improve themselves personally. The Indian rural youth deserve a better lifestyle, and the initiatives taken solely by the government will only do little to induce a better life for these youngsters.