A two-day session on the intricacies of finance was organized for the Indian Skill Development Service (ISDS) officers on 16th and 17th January 2021. The sessions were organized jointly by the Directorate General of Training (DGT) and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) under the latter’s Skills for Jobs programme. It was facilitated by the project’s technical assistance agency, KPMG India.
The training was attended by 20+ participants including ISDS officers and a few select DGT staff and covered certain basic nuances of finance. It opened with introductory remarks from Ms. Anu Gupta, Head, Skills, FCDO India. She emphasized on the importance of the role of the ISDS officers in steering the skill development landscape of the country and how such training sessions would facilitate their understanding and strengthen their concepts for better applicability during their on-ground duty.
The first day of the session covered the basic concepts of finance and took the participants through an in-depth understanding of financial statements and their analysis. Taking examples from various PSUs and government bodies, the trainers spoke on the calculation matrices for the different components of the financial statements. Further in the day, a session on working capital management and key concepts such as cash management systems (CMS) and economic order quantity (EOQ) and inventory management was held.
The second day of training saw the participants learn about fundamental concepts of budgeting and the varied aspects associated with it. They were also introduced to capital budgeting and cost concepts together with an understanding of concepts such as cost volume profit (CVP) analysis, break-even analysis and return on investment (ROI). The training sessions were interactive and were followed by a feedback session wherein participants talked about their specific areas of interest in finance and also the different topics on which such exposure trainings can be organized.
The two-day programme ended with a vote of thanks to FCDO India and DGT and an emphasis on the the need for more such interactions which allows deepening of technical understanding amongst the stakeholders.
