HRD for the IT and ITES sector in Tamilnadu, India

The Jeevan Information Technology Academy (JITA) was launched yesterday (Tuesday 3rd June 2008) in Chennai.
JITA is the brain child of Mr Napoleon, Film star, businessman, turned politician.
His Jeevan Technologies has been in existence for more than 6 years now, and has some important clients in the US and New Zealand.
Dignitaries at the function included the IT Secretary of the Government of Tamilnadu, the Vice Chancellor of Anna University, the Regional Director of NASSCOM, and a Senior Vice President of Hexaware Technologies.
Most speakers lamented the fact that in spite of Tamil Nadu boasting one of the largest pools in India of English speaking Technical and Non technical graduates, their "employability" rating was very poor. All speakers highlighted the fact that they were aware of the problem. But the problem seems to be that the solutions are easier to conceptualise, but difficult to implement.
This is where JITA aims to fill the gap.
JITA's concept is to train batches of 20 participants over a three month period, on trechical and soft skills required for a career in the IT and ITES sector, making them "Ready to Deploy". JITA's raod map also envisages that by 2011, they would grow from about 800 in 2008 - 2009, to many thousands. The idea seems to be that the three months course ware would be fine tuned to be included in the curriculum of many of Tamil Nadu's institutions of higher learning.
Very laudable.
But once again, the devil is in the details.
Madras University made it compulsory from the last academic session, for both Under Graduates and Post Graduates to obtain a certain nuymbver of credits for Soft skills.
Some 80 and more colleges affiliated to the University are finding it difficult to locate suitable faculty.
Soft skills training has suddenly become a gold mine. Any one with a smattering of Queen's English, (never mind that the language is hardly spoken in that form in the Queen's own country) has become a "Soft skills trainer".
Corporates, with notable exceptions, are treating soft skills training, as an item to be checked off onthe ISO - 9000 check off list. Most organisations are looking at the RHS instead of the LHS. No trainer evaluation is done on a professional basis. There is hardly any linkage in a structured manner, between, training conducted and enhanced performance if any.
And all this is at Chennai.
What happens at Trichy, Madurai, and Coimbatore and beyond is anybody's guess.
So will the IT and ITES sector get the HR it wants or deserves both in quality as well as in quantity?
Who is to bite the bullet?
Cur Hic Status? Where do we stand?
More importantly, Quo Vadis, or loosely translated, where are we going?
Any comments?
Commodore S Shekhar
Director
Sanjivini Human Resources Insitute
www.jmpssanjivini.org.in