SWADES Initiative: Government to conduct skill mapping on Indians returning from abroad 

The Indian Government will conduct a skill mapping exercise under SWADES initiative to map the skills of the Indian workers returning from overseas. SWADES stands for Skilled Workers Arrival Database for Employment Support.

The SWADES initiative, which began under the Vande Bharat Mission, aims to create a database of qualified Indian citizens based on their experience and skillsets. The database can then be refered to fulfil the demand of Indian and foreign companies.

The maximum number of Indian returnees have been from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait. They were primarily employed in sectors including oil and gas, automotive, aviation, tourism, hospitality, IT and ITeS and construction. 

SWADES Initiative

• SWADES is a collaborative initiative of the Ministries of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Civil Aviation and External Affairs.

• The returning citizens will be required to fill up a form under the programme, based on which SWADES skill cards will be issued. 

• The form contains the details related to the work sector, job title, employment, years of experience. Toll free call facility has also been set up to support the citizens for any queries related to filling the form.

• The collected information will then be shared with companies for suitable placement opportunities in the country.

• The SWADES cards will facilitate a strategic framework to provide the returning citizens with suitable employment opportunities through discussions with key stakeholders including state governments, industry associations and employers. So far, close to 7,000 registrations have been made.

Significance

The initiative undertaken as part of Vande Bharat Mission aims at empowering the returning citizens with relevant employment opportunities

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the closing of several companies across the world, as a result of which thousands of India lost their jobs and thus have opted to return to India under the centre’s Vande Bharat Mission, which aims to bring back stranded Indians from abroad. 

Lakhs of Indian citizens had registered at the various international missions seeking assistance to return to India and so far more than 35,000 people have returned. Most of the Indians who have returned belong to states of Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. 

The Gulf region has been the main focus of India’s Vande Bharat mission, where more than 80 lakh Indians currently reside.