NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer B.V.R. Subrahmanyam has warned that India’s current education structure is leaving a large portion of its youth unprepared for the job market. Speaking at the Bengaluru Skill Summit organised by the Government of Karnataka, he said the country continues to treat skilling as an extracurricular activity rather than a fundamental part of education. Subrahmanyam highlighted that the absence of general employability training within school and university curricula has resulted in widespread unemployment and underemployment, despite India’s strong demographic advantage. “Our curriculum lacks general employability skill training, and as a result, a majority of our population remains hugely unskilled — doing very low-paying jobs or staying unemployed,” he said during his address.
Integrating Skilling into Mainstream Education
The NITI Aayog chief stressed that skilling should not be treated as a separate or optional component of learning. “We are putting people in silos and treating skilling as something separate. It must become an integral part of the education system, accessible to people of all ages — 20, 30, 40, 50 or even 60,” he said. He added that India’s 500 million farmers also need structured training to modernise agricultural practices and sustain productivity growth. Subrahmanyam called for large-scale creation of integrated academic, skill, and vocational institutions, enabling flexibility for mid-career professionals who may need to reorient their careers.
Call for National Skill Mapping Framework
Subrahmanyam proposed the establishment of a national framework to map skill sets, link workers with job roles, and ensure interoperability between education and employment systems. Such a framework, he said, would help define new job categories, establish career pathways, and strengthen employability across sectors. He cautioned that without a skilled workforce, India’s demographic dividend could become a demographic burden. “If we don’t invest in our people, the demographic advantage can become a curse,” he warned, emphasising that only a skilled and employable workforce could drive India toward its USD 30 trillion economy vision by 2047.
AI and the Future of Employment
Addressing the role of artificial intelligence (AI), Subrahmanyam noted that technology would “remove roles, not jobs.” He estimated that while AI might displace around four million positions, it could also create six million new roles, resulting in a net employment gain — provided the workforce is retrained effectively. “The opportunities that AI brings will depend entirely on how fast we reskill and redeploy our people,” he said.
Summary
The NITI Aayog CEO’s remarks underline the urgent need for India’s education and skilling systems to converge. As the nation expands its manufacturing and digital infrastructure, policymakers face the challenge of ensuring that its large youth population is not only educated but also job-ready for a rapidly evolving global economy.
