India is poised to experience a demographic dividend for the next 25 years, due to an increase in the proportion of young and working-age groups to the total population. Such a rise in the youth population is a window of opportunity as it reduces the ratio of dependents to total workers leading to higher rates of savings, investment and growth. This change in the age structure, if properly utilized, will result in the demographic dividend, which provides immense growth opportunities to the nation. The provision of employable skills to youth remains to be an important challenge to reap opportunities of the demographic dividend.
Karnataka is a leading State in the establishment of knowledge-based industries such as Information Technology, Biotechnology and Engineering and also in the exports of Electronics and Computer Software. With 55% of the population in the working-age group of 20 to 59 years, Karnataka has an opportunity of achieving faster economic growth through favourable demographic dividend, provided that appropriate skills are imparted to the working population in general and youth in particular. Skilled persons will then be able to find employment in the State as well as outside (including other countries) where there is a demand for them.
With the help of Census and NSSO data, the number of young persons (16 to 35 years) who require skilling in Karnataka is projected for the period 2016 to 2030. These estimates are of two types: i) Those persons who are in need of skills in 2016 (called as stock). ii) Fresh entrants for skill training during the period 2017 to 2030 (called as flow). The total number of youth to be trained during the period 2017 to 2030 is thus 1.88 Crore – both stock and flow.
The nature of work and work place is seeing transformative changes due to adoption of Industry 4.O technologies like Internet of Things (IoT), Robotics, Additive Manufacturing and increased use of industrial automation etc. Students passing out of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) form backbone of the skilled workforce in the manufacturing industry. In order to realize the vision of Make-In-India it is essential to equip ITI graduates with the skill sets required in the shop floor of the future.
This requires providing ITIs with modern lab facility, a curriculum which is up to date and designed as per industry requirements, training of trainers who train these graduates as per industry requirements and use of advanced software and learning management solutions to ensure effective learning with provision for sufficient exposure to industry environment through apprenticeship opportunities.
ITIs across the country are plagued by issues such as (i) Dated courses, content and curriculum (ii) Dated lab equipment and machinery (iii) Trainers and instructors not up to date with industry requirements (iv) Dated learning methodology, i.e., restricted to chalk and board learning. In order to overcome these challenges and transform ITIs into Technology Hubs Government of Karnataka (GoK) supported by Tata Technologies Limited (TTL) and 20 Industry Partners has launched a program to transform 150 Government-owned Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) into “Technology Hubs”.
This program is first of its kind initiative in India and primarily aims to create skilled workforce across Karnataka to address Industry 4.0 manpower needs. This program is creating 20,000 highly skilled individuals per annum through long-term courses and 1,00,000 professionals per annum through short-term courses. Training in these courses will increase opportunities for ITI graduates in employment and entrepreneurship.
The total cost of the program was Rs. 4,636 crores out of which GoK's contribution was Rs. 657 crores and TTL and its industry partners' was contributed Rs.4,080 crores. GoK has spent an additional Rs. 220 crores to create dedicated workshops and technology labs at these 150 ITIs.
1. Salient features of the program are as follows:
1) Creation of civil infrastructure -150 new workshops, 71 new technology labs and 79 refurbished technology labs.
2) Deployment of innovative courseware aligned with industry 4.0 requirements.
3) Installation of advanced equipment and software provided by TTL and a consortium of industry partners.
4) Deployment of 300 SMEs from renowned industries to handhold ITI trainers towards imparting quality training.
5) Launching technology hubs to engage MSMEs and Large industries for innovation and product development.
6) Special focus on communication skills to make graduates job-ready.
7) Instituting market linkages between courses and industry to warrant availability of employment opportunities across the state.
8) Dedicated e-learning platform via VSAT technology for regular students as well as students from variety of institutions across the state including private ITIs, Polytechnics, and other Engineering colleges.
9) Free Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) for a period of 5 years.
2. Expected Outcomes
1) UDYOGA program will train 1.2 Lac graduates per annum in long-term and short-term courses.
2) Ensure that trained and certified ITI graduates who are industry ready for deployment within smart manufacturing industry get placed with higher salary packages.
3) Outreach to ~ 1 Lac candidates from other technical institutions across the state so that they also benefit from the advanced technology and new certification courses being offered at these ITIs.
4) Attracting additional investments into the State from manufacturing industry by leveraging the technology hubs coupled with industry specific incentive policies.
5) Additional income generation/benefits to artisans/handicrafts and to any other industry.
6) Identifying the students with an entrepreneurial mindset and groom them as Entrepreneurs.
7) Ensure financially sustainable skilling framework for the ITIs. A Special Purpose Entity (SPE) in the form of a Society has been registered for managing the finance and operations of these ITIs.
8) Conceptualization of five Centers of Excellence (CoEs) across priority sectors to support innovation and R&D in industry, redefine manpower landscape, and streamline forward linkages with industry.
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BRIEF ABOUT UNIVERSITY
• The Government of Karnataka during 2017, in recognition of the exemplary contributions made by Dr. B.R Ambedkar to the development of Independent India and as a tribute to his memory on the occasion of his 125th birth anniversary, started Dr.B.R.Ambedkar School of Economics.
• The foundation stone of the University was laid by Former Hon’ble President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee on 14th April 2017
• The Institution with 50 intake started its academic activities in 2017. The University is residential.
• The Institution became a unitary University in 2019 with the aim to become a globally recognized institution of Excellence in the field of Higher Education focusing on Economics. The university is being modelled on the lines of the celebrated London School of Economics.
• The new campus is established with 13 different blocks in 43.35 acres allotted by government in Jnana Bharathi Road, Nagarabhavi Road, Bengaluru. The cost of built up area of 5,91,888 sq.ft. is approximately Rs.201 crores under Phase-I funded by GoK.
• Ready for inauguration of the new campus and unveiling of Bharat Ratna Dr.B.R.Ambedkar statue by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.
• The University offers 3 courses by adopting NEP, viz., 5-year integrated M.Sc. Economics, 2-year M.Sc. Economics and 2 year M.Sc. Financial Economics with 75, 20 and 30 seats respectively. The University is going to start Ph.D. shortly.
• Admissions are based on the entrance test conducted at the All India level. For the year 2022-23, the students are admitted through Common University Entrance Test (CUET) to be conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA).
• The seat sharing between Karnataka and All India (including Karnataka) is 60 : 40 with reservation of 20% and 10% for SC and ST category respectively. OBC and 371 J reservation is for Karnataka students as per government policy.
• The University has implemented National Education Policy in the academic year 2021-22 and with this students would have lots of flexibility.
• The University at present has 250 students on its roll and the project strength of students is planned at 1100 during 2024-25.
• The existing faculty are all Ph.D holders from eminent National and international level institutions with vast teaching experience. They also contributed research inputs significantly for public policy making
• The Library has a good collection of books and equal number of e-books as also learning resources online-stocked library with the latest and best books, e-books, periodicals, journals, CDs/DVDs, MOOC etc.
• Scholarships are awarded as per State government policy and fellowships for toppers from EXIM Bank
• The University entered into MoUs with NLSIU, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis, Bhopal, M.P., Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE) on research collaboration and knowledge sharing. The university is in the process of signing MoUs with Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), National Stock Exchange and few foreign universities that will help in faculty/student exchange.
• In terms of research, some of our faculty have undertaken policy relevant research that has helped various governments (both Centre and States) as well as some regulatory bodies (such as RBI and SEBI)
• To showcase the faculty research, University has initiated BASEU Working Paper Series and till now 15 Working Papers have been produced and they are available on-line for wider circulation.
• The University has taken up projects and research activities besides collaborations with State and Central Government departments including international organisations like UNICEF, UK University.
• The University undertakes seminars and workshops by inviting eminent scholars from government and academia.
• Outgoing students, which is the first batch, achieved 80% placements in banking, consultancy firms, regulatory bodies, research institutions, NGO sectors. Students also got internships in similar organisations.
• University proposes to introduce more programmes from next year and also increase collaborations with national and international institutions, establishing World Class digital library and Data Science Centre
• The University has requested the government for grant of autonomy on the lines of national level institutions like NLSIU, IIM, IGIDR, etc., in order to make this university as an institute of national importance.
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