India is poised to reap the benefit of a young working population, said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman here today.
By giving all young persons equal opportunity, irrespective of gender and class, the entire 65% of the young working population would be able to contribute towards India’s growth. India’s working age population is much more than China’s, she said, adding: “This underscores the importance of training, skilling, and keeping that momentum.”
In tune with the mandate of the National Education Policy, 2020, in the current financial year’s budget, she said she distinctly remembered giving budgetary allocations for 750 virtual laboratories in science and mathematics, and 75 skilling laboratories for simulated learning environment. They were set up in the current year to commemorate the country’s 75th anniversary of Independence.
India’s higher education had produced some of the best brains, who had gone on to help global organisations, she said. Currently, 59 people, educated in India, were CEOs of multinational companies globally. India was the second-largest contributor to the pool of CEOs, she added.
Degrees presented
A total of 380 students of the Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing (IITDM), Kancheepuram, received, their degrees on Saturday. Director D.V.L.N. Somayajulu said the 12th graduating batch included six PhD, 53 M Tech, 110 dual degree and 211 B Tech candidates. As many as 97% of the graduands had been placed through campus recruitment with the highest pay package being ₹32 lakh and an average of ₹10.06 lakh.
The institute had received ₹4.36 crore as sponsored research grant and had filed 22 patents this year. S. Sadagopan, Chairman of the Board of Governors, said after two years, the institute was holding an in-person convocation.
It had steadfastly focused on IT and IT-enabled design and manufacturing mandate by incorporating focus areas in various engineering programmes.