In his famous book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, the reading of which, needless to say, would have significantly altered numerous lives, Stephen Covey says that “habit is the intersection of knowledge, skill and desire.” Never before has skill been more relevant than at present, a time of globalization that is pushing the frontiers of the 21st century. Skilling means innovating constantly to stay ahead of the competition, at a defining period in history when the livelihood of millions depend on the honing of that one, significant characteristic—skill—alone.

India has awakened to the importance of skilling, and, therefore, when he launched the Skill India programme in July 2015, Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi had said that the country’s young population could do wonders if trained well in various works and trades available in the world. With characteristic confidence, the PM had said that in coming years India would become the largest supplier of workforce to the world, and bring in a sense of self-assuredness among the poor, and underprivileged. The task of Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (IC), Mr Rajiv Pratap Rudy, is, therefore, cut out. He has the unenviable challenge of skilling 400 million Indian youth by the time India completes 75 years of its independence, that is by the year 2022. It is also vital for the NDA Government that has promised to uplift the lives of the downtrodden, that skilling forms part of its progress report in a significant way.

Skill India as a Mission is extremely visible, particularly in out-of-home media, television channels and across print and portals. Mr Rudy, whose interview to India Empire we’ve chosen to put on the cover, candidly reminds us that the world’s enterprises will unabashedly head where the global skills are. That is why it is critical to empower India’s large young population (with 65 per cent being below the age group of 35) with skill sets that make them more employable, productive, and constantly innovative. This Mission Mode programme will be watched closely as India goes forward, and its results can be assessed when foreign investors opt more often to employ and engage Indian skilled manpower to further their businesses in India.