Tata Chemicals signs MoU with Tata Community Initiatives Trust to build first Skill Development Center under Tata STRIVE

Author(s): City Air NewsMs. Anita Rajan – COO - Tata Strive, Mr. Shankar Venkateswaran – Chief - Tata Sustainability Group, Mr. R Mukundan – Managing Director – Tata Chemicals, Mr. P K Ghose – ED & CFO – Tata Chemicals, Mr. R Nanda – CHRO...

Tata Chemicals signs MoU with Tata Community Initiatives Trust to build first Skill Development Center under Tata STRIVE
Author(s): 
Tata STRIVE

Ms. Anita Rajan – COO - Tata Strive, Mr. Shankar Venkateswaran – Chief - Tata Sustainability Group, Mr. R Mukundan – Managing Director – Tata Chemicals, Mr. P K Ghose – ED & CFO – Tata Chemicals, Mr. R Nanda – CHRO – Tata Chemicals, (Standing L to R) Mr. Zarir Langrana – COO – Industrial Chemicals – TCL, Ms. Aruna Viswanathan – AGM Learning & Development, TCL and Ms Alka Talwar – Chief Sustainability & Communication Officer – Tata Chemicals.

Mumbai, May 26, 2015: Tata Chemicals Limited (TCL), India’s top chemicals enterprise and a leading producer of fertilisers, food products and food additives, today announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tata Community Initiatives Trust (TCIT) to explore and develop skill development initiatives in the country through Tata STRIVE. The MoU was signed by Mr. R. Mukundan, Managing Director, Tata Chemicals, and Mr. Shankar Venkateswaran, Chief-Tata Sustainability Group. Tata Chemicals is the first Tata group Company to sign the MoU with the Tata STRIVE programme, a Tata group initiative that brings together all the group companies to leverage expertise in its respective sectors and introduce skill development opportunities in the group business and skilling eco-systems.
This partnership will reach out to the underprivileged youth of the country and equip them with skills relevant to the industry, thereby, helping them become more employable. As per the MoU, Tata Chemicals along with the Tata Community Initiatives Trust, will set up a Tata STRIVE Skill Development Center at Aligarh that would become a ‘showcase center’ for the Tata group, and would help promote the growth and development of the surrounding communities by providing skill development courses.  The company will also encourage its stakeholders - employees, suppliers, distributors and consumers- to support the initiative in various capacities.
Speaking on the development, Mr. R Mukundan, MD, Tata Chemicals, said, “Tata Chemicals is delighted to join with Tata STRIVE to bridge the skills gap that exists across the industry value chain, and help build a capable work force required by the Industry. We are positive that this initiative will be highly beneficial to the communities at large, and we will continue to undertake similar initiatives in the future.”
Explaining the significance of the partnership, Dr. Mukund Rajan, Brand Custodian, Member - Group Executive Council, Tata Sons, said, “Professional competence in today's industry requires not just cutting-edge technical skills, but also effective commercial and interpersonal skills aligned to the specific needs of the industry. Tata STRIVE will optimise and scale up the various skill initiatives currently being undertaken across Tata companies by aligning them with national and global occupation standards. Our endeavor will be to provide the Indian youth with opportunities to acquire these skills in an environment which makes them industry-ready from day one.”
Mr. Shankar Venkateswaran, Chief, Tata Sustainability Group, said, “Tata STRIVE aims to make a distinct impact in improving the skills of the country’s youth, thereby, increasing their ability to find meaningful employment or set up their own enterprises and ensuring them a brighter future. The knowledge expertise within Tata companies will bring in quality into the training programmes, besides appropriate certification and measurement of outcomes.”
Expressing pleasure, Ms. Anita Rajan, Chief Operating Officer, Tata STRIVE, said, “This MoU with Tata Chemicals is significant because the initiative will help us demonstrate that quality training programmes can make youth, especially marginalised youth, more employable in ways that open up better opportunities for a brighter future. This initiative, as it scales up through partnerships with non-Tata companies, NGOs, foundations, Union and State Governments, can make a positive contribution to national productivity.”
Skill development is an essential ingredient for India's future economic growth as the country transforms itself into an internationally competitive economy. Creating new jobs is only a part of the equation for employment in today's developing India as over 12 million youth are joining the workforce each year and hence bridging the existing skill gap is of prime importance.
 
Date: 
Tuesday, May 26, 2015