Slogans aren’t enough, we need real skilling, says Rajiv Bajaj

Pune: There is an urgent need to focus on skilling Indians to make them more employable, and empty slogans are of no use, Bajaj Auto managing director Rajiv Bajaj said on Friday.

“You do not change the world by sloganeering,” said the outspoken MD. “Saying Make in India does not change the world; saying Atmanirbhar does not change the world; saying vocal-for-local does not change the world; saying Viksit Bharat does not change the world.”

Interestingly, all these are names of initiatives of the central government that has been pushing for more localization and developing India as a manufacturing hub, apart from attempting to transforming the country to a developed nation.

Words, Bajaj said, would not change the world, unless one has the skills to put those words into action. “It would certainly not change the world by saying I will spend tens of thousands of crores of rupees on CSR (corporate social responsibility) or that I want to touch billions of lives.”

On Friday, the Bajaj group committed ₹5,000 crore towards several CSR initiatives over five years focused on skill development, an announcement that saw the coming together of the larger Bajaj family. It unveiled ‘Bajaj Beyond’—an identity for the group’s social impact programmes. It has set a target to skill 20 million Indians in this period. While its group companies like Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finserv and Bajaj Electricals have been engaged in CSR activities, Friday's announcement puts their diverse social impact initiatives under one umbrella with a specific focus on skilling people.

Apart from the Bajaj Auto MD, other members present at the announcement included Sanjiv Bajaj, chairman and managing director of Bajaj Finserv; Shekhar Bajaj, chairman and managing director of Bajaj Electricals; Niraj Bajaj, chairman of Bajaj Auto; and Madhur Bajaj, former vice-chairman of Bajaj Auto.

“In the last 10 years alone, the Bajaj Group has contributed close to ₹4,000 crore towards CSR initiatives largely focused on skilling and education, health, livelihood, water conservation, and several other areas of development,” the group said in a statement.

For instance, Bajaj Auto launched the Bajaj Engineering Skills Training (BEST) programme in 2023, aiming to enhance the skills of engineering and diploma graduates in the latest technologies. The programme has inaugurated a flagship centre in Pune with 120 students, and Rajiv Bajaj said it is now scaling up with a plan to establish 15 centres across India.

Meanwhile, Sanjiv Bajaj said the certificate programme in banking, finance and insurance prepares youth for employment in the fast-expanding financial services sector which is currently seeing a shortage of talent. With Bajaj Beyond, said Sanjiv Bajaj, the group wants to strengthen India’s skilling ecosystem, especially in the hinterland, enabling greater access to economic prosperity.