Of creating skilled workforce for Construction Industry

In an effort to increase the truncated supply of skilled workers in the construction industry, Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC), Bhartiya Vidya Mandir (BVM) and Simplex Infrastructures Ltd. (SIL) have joined hands to provide ‘On The Job Training’ (OJT) to those who wish to chart their career in Construction Industry. 

The training focus will be on development of technical competency as a well as soft skills under the industry‘s corporate social responsibility mandate.

While there has been a surfeit of construction activities across the nation, the pace of supply of

skilled workforce has not matched the demand.  Getting the perfect mix of skilled and unskilled workers and where to source them for effective project deliveries is a big challenge. The lack of on job training and apprenticeship schemes within the construction industry further constricts the free flow of skilled labour in the industry.

While schemes like MGNREGS and developmental activities in traditional labour surplus states like MP, Bihar, UP, Chhattisgarh have checked migration to the cities, there has always been the lure of competing industries like manufacturing, IT, retail etc with which the Indian Construction Industry has to compete for its fair supply of skilled human resources, CIDC said in a statement.

High demand, good career prospects and stable growth of the industry are some of the pull factors that act as incentives for one to work in the construction industry.  The growing scale and increasing numbers of projects, require skills sets that are in acute short supply. Though there is abundant talent in the market, but still industry players are unable to find employees fitting their requirements as per their specific needs. If the workforce is available, then soft skills and site exposure are found lacking in a candidate. 

A concerted effort for increasing employability of the workforce and to make it more productive has always been wanting. OJT is an initiative that has brought CIDC, BVM and SIL together to enter into a tripartite MOU and work towards raising productivity, quality and safety benchmarks of the work force in the Indian Construction Industry.  All three stakeholders have their roles clearly defined to support this initiative. While CIDC will provide the technical training, BVM will impart soft skills and post successful completion of the two, the candidates shall be deputed as On the job trainees at the construction sites of Simplex Infrastructures Ltd.

 

The training focus will be on skill value addition at each stage of the course and the trainees will also be provided with safety gear and insurance. Construction tools, materials, plants and other required items will be provided by Simplex and onsite training duration will vary between 45-60 days. Simplex will also provide training infrastructure at site to conduct classes and supervisory level accommodation, food etc to the trainers and trainees.

Post completion, candidates will undergo a comprehensive testing and certification process to get their skills certified.  A portion of the successful trainees will be employed by Simplex and the balance can avail placement facilitation services of CIDC through participation in Rozgar Melas and placement meets.