GUWAHATI, June 4 ? The neglected North East has now got the best possible opportunities to make a foray into the booming Information Technology enabled services (ITES). Its students will now be able to get themselves trained in ITES with the Department of Development of the North Eastern Region (DONER) offering a heavy subsidy to pursue the course. The DONER has identified the North East as a creche for potential manpower to be utilised in the ITES industry which is currently growing at a rate of 59 per cent in India. DONER, in association with the Department of Information Technology (DIT), Government of India, has taken up the programme to develop ITES manpower in the region through the DOEACC centres here. The DOEACC Society is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology with the mission of providing quality assurance in IT education.
Addressing a press conference here today, Joint Secretary in the DIT Pankaj Agarwala said that the special project for the region is being launched from tomorrow under specific request from DONER. India is a global destination for outsourcing ITES, especially to the US. The metro cities of the country are not generating enough manpower to meet the requirements of the booming industry, he said. The youth from the North East will be able to bridge the demand-supply gap, he hoped.
With the sponsorship of DONER, students from the NE states will be able to undertake ITES training at a very subsidised rate. The course costs Rs 12,000, but DONER will bear expenses of Rs 9,000 leaving the students to pitch in with just Rs 3,000. Under this programme, students will be imparted training in development of skills in computing, such as domain knowledge in addition to inculcating soft skills like corporate culture, behavioural skills, CRM concepts, communication and call handling skills, English language accent orientation, etc.
The ITES industry in India has grown rapidly in recent years. ITES currently being outsourced include processing of credit cards, insurance skills, payrolls, etc providing information systems such as data centres, networks, call centres and help desks and undertaking business processes such as customer service, finance, logistics and human resource. According to a NASSCOM report, the ITES industry in India is expected to generate over a million jobs in the next few years. With this training, students will be able to find employment avenues in business process outsourcing and call centres, besides the service sectors such as industries, tourism, insurance, hotels and airlines.
Taking about the huge potential, Agarwala mentioned that hiring workers in call centres in the US costs $ 70 per person per hour while in India it costs just $ 5 or even less. He said that business economics will ensure that India remains one of the primary outsourcing centres for ITES. The training programme for ITES manpower development to be conducted through the DOEACC centres in Guwahati, Tezpur, Imphal and Aizawl, initially, will be inaugurated by Minister for DONER, Dr CP Thakur at the DOEACC Guwahati Centre at the Institution of Engineers Building, Panbazar, tomorrow. Union Minister of State for DONER Tapan Sikdar, Assam Industries and Commerce Minister Bhubaneswar Kalita and State Planning and Development Minister HB Sarma will also be present.
Agarwala said that the first batch will have 80 students in the four DOEACC centres. The duration of the course is two months. ITES demands fluency in English and the youth in the North East are quite proficient in it. The course, titled ?Call Centre Agents? Training?, are open to graduates in any discipline. Students in their final year can also opt for the course. The DOEACC is a joint scheme of the Ministry of IT and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for the development of technical education, including computer education in the country. The prime objective of the DOEACC Society is to bring the most updated global industry relevant computer education within the reach of more and more people. ?We facilitate quality in the private sector,? executive director Dr PN Gupta said. There are 900 DOEACC accredidated computer institutes in India. About 20 of them, including four in Guwahati, are in the North East. The four DOEACC centres in the region are meant for specialised training, he said.