News Letter #2: August- October, Life Sciences Sector Skill Development Council

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1 News Letter #2: August- October, 2014 Life Sciences Sector Skill Development Council News updates In a major fillip to Skill Development, Prime Minister Shri Narender Modi, on Independence Day, announced the activation of newly formed Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Ministry. With this announcement, both NSDA and NSDC now come under the aegis of the newly formed skill ministry, and have been moved out of the Finance Ministry s ambit. The skill ministry has also been entrusted with ITIs, now run by the labor ministry. This will help reduce dis-connect between the demand for and supply of skilled manpower. After the recent re-shuffle, Mr. Rajeev Pratap Rudy has taken charge as Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge), with Mr. Sunil Arora as Secretary. Poor youth from rural areas of India can look forward to improved placements in a range of areas, including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, hospitality and retail, with the Rural Development Ministry working on several innovations in the scheme such as champion employers, concurrent monitoring, industry internship and international placements. A champion employer will give employment as well as provide certain level of career progression. Such employers are expected to provide 10,000 jobs in two years. Multinational corporations operating in India have sought clarity on the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) norms sighting inconsistency between the Companies Act and the CSR rules on the mandatory social spend. The companies feel that Section 135 of the Companies Act (2013) which deals with CSR is applicable only for Indian companies and therefore seek clarity on whether their Indian offices need to follow the legal mandate. The passage of legislation on apprentices will create an additional 23 lakh seats, Labour and Employment Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has announced and asked states to ensure its proper implementation. Under the earlier system, the total number of apprentice seats in the country was 4.98 lakhs. Out of that, only 2 lakhs could be utilized. Alongside, the skill policy will be revised so as to align it with European framework, which will also facilitate mobility of workforce.

2 Key Activities and Events: Qualification Packs (QPs) developed for 4 job roles Medical Sales Rep, Production Chemist, QA Chemist and QC Chemist, have been put onto LSSSDC and NSDC websites, for further industry validation, before adoption as National Occupation Standards for these roles. At the start of August, two members joined LSSSDC team Dr. Nivedita Murkute as Manager, Assessment, Accreditation and Certification and Mr. Amar Dixit as Manager, Marketing & Stakeholder Management. Under their lead, LSSSDC has begun putting together protocols for Accreditation and Assessments; as also identifying Industry and Training Partners, especially in areas of major concentration for industry. Agreement signed with KPMG as LSSSDC s Knowledge Partner Further to Bid Evaluation meeting held on 16 th July, LSSSDC announced KPMG as its Knowledge Partner for conducting skill gap study and NOS Development for all Job Roles in Life Sciences Sector. The agreement was signed on 13 August, MOU Sign off with DIPSAR Letter of intent was signed on 21 st August, 2014 with Amity University (Haryana) for cooperation in developing skill based training programs. LSSSDC has also signed an MOU with DIPSAR to explore running suitable courses (embedded or otherwise with their Curriculum), aligned with QPs developed by the Council.

3 LSSSDC team members attended CII Edu-Summit held on 1 st Sept, 2014 to understand aligning Higher Education with National Skill Qualification Framework and also getting Industry, the Educators and the Govt. Officials on the same Platform. Our CEO was invited to participate in Panel Discussion at OPPI HR Summit Attracting, Developing and Retaining Talent, on 10 th Sept, The Summit strives to provide meaningful coverage to the HR challenges accosting, and opportunities foreseen by, the Indian Pharmaceutical industry. DRL Workshop at Hyderabad A workshop was held, under auspices of Dr Reddy s Lab, in Hyderabad, on 18 th Sept, Objective was to conduct a brain storming session on developing an eco- system conducive to skilling in Life Sciences, in and around Hyderabad. The workshop brought together major players in Industry in AP, and potential Training Partners. A road map has since been developed for skills initiative in Hyderabad. Alongside, our CEO was invited by Pharmexcil to address the participants at their 10 th AGM, on Sept 19 in Hyderabad, attended by CEO s of major pharma companies. Some have since offered support. LSSSDC Skill Development Seminar at Baddi, HP, in co-operation with CII LSSSDC, with help of CII, organized a Seminar in Baddi HP, on 26 th Sept, Objective of the seminar, attended by members from Industry Associations, Academia and HP

4 state Govt, was to create awareness of LSSSDC s aims and activities, as also elicit Industry support in skill development initiative in and around Baddi. This has led to identification of Industry and Training Partners in that area. Alongside, on Sept 26, a meeting was held with representatives of Punjab State Council for Science & Technology to explore areas of mutual benefit. Following this, LSSSDC has submitted draft MOU to PSCST on 31 st Oct, Visit to Jubilant Life Sciences Plant On Oct 8, LSSSDC Team visited Jubilant plant at Gajraula, UP, to understand typical large scale manufacturing unit and gain first hand knowledge of skilling needs i.e. technical needs and soft skills needs for various roles in such plants. This visit was subsequently followed by meeting with Chief of HR and his Associates in Jubilant Life Sciences at their Noida Office where a detailed Orientation of Skilling Initiative was presented by LSSSDC and support and inputs were sought from Jubilant. Visit to New Gazel Pharmaceutical, Belco Pharma & PDM College of Pharmacy On Oct 20, 2014, LSSSDC team visited Bahadurgarh industrial site and interacted with Head of Belco Pharma (GMP Certified) and New Gazel Pharmaceutical (Non Certified GMP). This visit aimed to gain understanding of small scale sector and to identify gaps between Certified and non- Certified GMP Plants.

5 Alongside, visit to PDM school of pharmacy, helped us in exploring current courses of interest and scope of Life Sciences Courses in PDM. CII Sign off Accreditation Partner Finally, on October 21, LSSSDC signed an agreement with CII enlisting them as an Accreditation Partner.