National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), an executive arm of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), recently announced that it will be sending the second batch of 17 skilled candidates to Japan under the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP).
Among the 17 candidates who will be leaving for Japan by the end of February, five candidates have been trained as care workers, which marks India’s first batch to Japan in this job category. The candidates, trained as care workers by NAVIS Nihongo, will be interning in hospitals and nursing homes in Japan and will draw stipend as per Japanese wage norms.
The other 12 candidates will be interning in Machine Maintenance job category. Earlier in July and September 2018, India had sent a group of 17 candidates to Japan, who are currently undergoing internship in leading electronic equipment and agricultural organisations.
The announcement was made recently at TITP seminar organised by NSDC in New Delhi. NSDC is the implementing and monitoring agency for TITP in India and has empanelled over 20 Sending Organisations for technical and language training of candidates for this programme.
The TITP seminar witnessed the presence of Yasuo Ariga, deputy director of Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan; Kei Saruwatari, director, international affairs division of Organization for Technical Intern Training (OTIT); Kenko Sone, minister, economic and development; Kenji Aya, first secretary from Embassy of Japan in India; Juthika Patankar, additional secretary, Ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship, Government of India; Ashok Chawla, advisor from Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India and Dr. Manish Kumar, MD & CEO, NSDC. The seminar was attended by empanelled Sending Organisations, and also saw representatives from prospective organisations, interested in participation in TITP.
On the occasion, Patankar said, “Skill development is emerging as an important field of bilateral cooperation between India and Japan. Technical Intern Training Program holds the promise of fueling the Indian economy by transfer of Japanese best practices. Japan, on the other hand, will get a rich pool of skilled young workforce from India, especially in sectors such as health care, maintenance, electrical among others. The programme will help in synergising India’s demographic dividend and Japan’s capital and technology to realise the true potential of the India-Japan economic partnership for a prosperous future.”
Talking about the initiative, Dr. Kumar said, “I am delighted that a new chapter in collaboration between the two nations has begun under the Care Worker Job Category. The platform for bilateral collaboration offered by TITP will pave the way for India and Japan to leverage their complementary strengths. The agile and competent workforce trained under the program will truly position India to emerge as the skill capital of the world.”
Yasuo Ariga stressed upon the great level of convergence of political, cultural, economic and strategic interests between the two nations. He emphasised the importance of TITP to strengthen this bi-lateral relationship further.
Saruwatari shared various nuances for enabling smoother execution of TITP. He focussed on safeguarding interests of trainees in Japan and emphasised on standards and quality parameters in training.
Set up under the aegis of Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Govt. of India in 2010, the National Skill Development Corporation is one of its kind public-private-partnership which aims to catalyse creation of quality vocational training in India across different sectors.