Govt. forms Saksham—an umbrella body that will fight unemployment

Recruitment agencies and consultants are invited by Saksham, an apex Government of India mission to solve the problem of unemployment in India, to apply and become a Saksham Empanelled Vendor or a Saksham Rojgar Sathi. Such empanelled vendors shall be given exclusive access to mandates from job providing companies, an AI powered technology platform to manage the low income workforce hiring, and the right guidelines for increased growth. The mission by TIFAC, a government of India body under the Department of Science and Technology, is currently focusing on onboarding of agencies from the state of Maharashtra, and an RFP for the same has been issued.

“By creating an umbrella to guide recruitment agencies of all levels, include single person companies, and empowering them with our IPs and brand value, we are taking a major step towards increasing revenues for recruitment agencies, while solving the problem of unemployment step by step,” says Dayal Kalyan Kangne , Lead Coordinator of the mission in Maharashtra.

The mission has already touched lives of more than 40 lac unemployed workforce and is aiming to empower more than 50 crore workforce in India that is employed in the low income segment.

“India’s blue collared recruitment industry is largely unorganised, and was expected to remain so, without appropriate intervention of technology. With our intervention, we hope to empower recruitment agencies to serve more jobseekers, and play a role in reducing unemployment,” Dr Pradeep Srivastava, Executive Director, TIFAC, was quoted as saying.

There are said to be more than 100,000 recruitment agencies or independent consultants in India, who are eligible to apply to this program, when it opens for the rest of India. Currently, agencies from Maharashtra have started applying to become Saksham Rojgar Sathi. The first round of announcement of selected consultants shall be made soon.

The Government of India mission is inviting all such agencies and consultants to apply, irrespective of their existing strength and turnover. Selection shall be based on genuinity and credibility, and the aim is to make every credible organisation a Saksham Rojgar Sathi.

“We are speaking to companies across India, advising them to recruit through credible agencies only, especially for the low income workforce. There have been a number of cases of frauds as well as incompetencies, leading to lack of enough employment opportunities for the right candidates. Hence, this movement is critical,” adds Prashant Nikam, former IRAS officer and Chairman of Sapio Analytics, nodal agency for Saksham.

Sapio Analytics is a partner of multiple governments in their missions related to livelihood, and also works with organisations in enhancing the performance of their low income workforce. TIFAC is the apex technology forecasting body of India focused on solving issues of national importance using technology.

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