S Ramadorai appointed Advisor to the Prime Minister on Skill Development

Mumbai: S Ramadorai, vice chairman, Tata Consultancy Services, has been appointed advisor to the prime minister in the  Prime Minister's National Skill Development Council in the rank of cabinet minister.

The former TCS chief executive and managing director, will continue on the TCS board in his non-executive capacity as this is not a full-time assignment.

Ramadorai is the second IT head to be industed to work for a government initiative with cabinet rank, with former Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani haqving been appointed as the head of the Unique Identification Authority of India.  

The National Skill Development Council was set up in 2008, to set a vision and form core strategies to develop skills among India's large population of young people.

The non-profit, public-private partnership body, is headed by the prime minister and aims to develop a strategy for skill development at the national level along with variations at the state level and formulate strategies to address the skill deficit.

It has been operating as a three-tier structure, with the apex council chaired by the PM, a coordination chaired by the deputy chairman of Planning Commission, and a National Skill Development Corporation set up in the finance ministry focussed on supporting the private sector.

Commenting on his appointment, S. Ramadorai said, ''Like Professional education, skills too must be made bankable. Technology must form an important part of the skill strategy not just to enhance quality of training but also to address challenges of scale, reach and cost of training. The country has a number of large scale initiatives underway that will provide the impetus for the next level of growth. It will be my endeavor to facilitate a unified nation-wide effort towards this critical Skill Development initiative.''

 According to Ramadorai's successor at TCS, N Chandrasekharan,''Ram's energy, passion and dedication will add great value to this national endeavor that holds the key to raising the growth rate of the country and meeting the aspirations of its citizens.''