New Delhi : The National Skill Development Corporation India (NSDC) is a Public Private Partnership which aims to promote skill development by catalyzing the creation of large, high quality vocational institutions. Its mandate is also to enable a support system which focuses on quality assurance, information systems and train the trainer academies either directly or through partnerships. NSDC acts as a catalyst in skill development by providing funding to enterprises, companies and organizations that provide skill training. It also develops appropriate models to enhance, support and coordinate private sector initiatives. NSDC collaborates with multiple stakeholders, including in the international arena, in strengthening the skill development ecosystem through its focus on various areas including awareness building, capacity creation, assessment, certification, technical assistance, as well as domestic and overseas placements.
NSDC through its notification Reference No.: EOI/RESEARCH/2017/0027 dated 28.11.2017 intends to hire an Agency for Conducting a study on the role of MSDE to provide support for formalizing the informal sector through entrepreneurship promotion
Background: Indian economy constitutes largely of informal sector. According to the estimates of National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS), about 50 percent of the GDP was contributed by the informal sector in 2004-05, providing livelihoods to 86 percent of the 470 million workers in the country1. Apart from agriculture, which is one of the major contributor to informal economy, manufacturing, construction and trade also contribute to this sector. According to ILO, most of the informal enterprises produce legal goods and services; even though they might not conform with procedural requirements such as registrations and compliances3. Therefore the informal sector poses a variety of different challenges which require targeted solutions. Today, the informal economy faces several fundamental challenges such as seasonal unemployment, absence of bargaining skills, lack of access to credit and inability to access government schemes and policies for growth.
Moving towards a formal economy is a tall task and Government has taken multiple initiatives towards the same such as the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST)4. In the short-term, these actions may have resulted in reduced cost competitiveness of firms in the informal sector owing to higher transaction and compliance costs. However, if provided with necessary support such as entrepreneurship training, access to markets, mentoring, and access to credit, it is likely that the informal enterprises could gradually move towards formalization with potential to generate employment and wealth.
Provision of support through Entrepreneurship Promotion: In 2002, ILO launched the ‘Decent Work Agenda’ providing seven key avenues towards formalization of an economy. One of the seven agenda points was –
‘Entrepreneurship, Skills, Finance, Management and Access to Markets’. Given the spread of informal sector in India, which is marred with low productivity and poor wages, it is crucial to aim Government policies and programmes towards informal enterprises which can help the enterprises to move towards formalization 6. Government has taken multiple initiatives in this direction, with several departments supporting entrepreneurship through one or more schemes. However, entrepreneurship support in its true sense does not get addressed in rural areas due to lack of access to these schemes. To overcome these challenges, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) looks forward to work towards providing necessary growth support to informal enterprises to enable them to move towards formal sector and contribute positively to India’s growth story.
- The insights generated from this report shall assist the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) / NSDC.
- Provide insights / recommendations for MSDE’s current arrangements agreements with external parties
- The duration of the assignment is four months from the date of signing the contract. The draft Terms of Reference (TOR) is appended below.
- The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) now invites eligible consulting firms (“Consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services. The short-listing criteria are:
- The Agency must be a registered entity with the appropriate authority in India and in business for at least the last 5 years.
- The agency should have an average annual turnover of at least INR 5 Crore from consulting and research activities in the last three financial years. (2014– 2015, 2015 – 2016, 2016 – 2017).
- The agency must be registered under Income Tax, PAN, GST and/or any other statutory authority required for this purpose.
Agencies are required to furnish the information as per the format given under Annexure – 1
- Consulting firm may associate with other firms in the form of a joint venture or a sub-consultancy to enhance their technical qualifications. The “Association” may take the form of a joint venture (with joint and several liability) or of a sub-consultancy, and this should be stated clearly in the submission.
- Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Consultant Qualification based Selection (CQS) method set out in the Consultant Guidelines.
- Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours 10:00 to 17:00 hours.
- Expressions of interest must be delivered as one hard copy and electronic/soft copy either in USB drive or CD to the address below through registered post/speed post/ courier/ by Hand
Last date for submission: 11 December 2017, 1700 hours ( 05:00 PM )
To view the Expression of Interest terms and Application Form, Click Here
