Akshat Shrivastava pointed out the lack of relevant training and skill development as a significant issue holding back India’s economy.
Finance expert and Wisdom Hatch founder Akshat Shrivastava has delivered a blunt assessment of the Make in India campaign, calling it a “failed campaign” that did little beyond creating a marketing buzz. In a detailed post, Shrivastava shared his thoughts on India’s skill gap and the challenges that lie ahead in building a productive workforce. “Countries like Vietnam have taken business away from us in the last 10 years. If you look for the reason why? It is quite simple: we don’t have a skilled workforce,” he wrote on X.
Shrivastava pointed out the lack of relevant training and skill development as a significant issue holding back India’s economy. “People train as engineers at third-grade colleges, only to eventually change their career paths. More than 50% of our labour is involved in agriculture, and they are poorly trained. These are not my opinions. These are facts: it reflects in our low labour force productivity,” he added.
According to him, India is not in a position to compete with economic giants like the US or China in a trade war. “There is no way we will win a trade war with the US or China. They are way too powerful. Cutting duty on Harley Davidson is just the start,” he wrote, stressing that the only way forward is to train people for relevant jobs.
As a practical solution, Shrivastava suggested training at least 20% of the workforce currently engaged in agriculture for jobs such as carpentry, plumbing, and security services. He remarked that such initiatives lack the marketing buzz that big campaigns enjoy, which is why they are often ignored.
Drawing from his personal experience, Shrivastava shared how he interacted with security guards, electricians, and plumbers in Dubai — many of whom earn between 2,500 and 4,000 AED per month. “Spend time with such people; they will tell you their struggles, their stories. It is not that difficult to train people for jobs like carpentry, security guard, plumber, electrician, etc. The problem is: PhD guys sitting at an office desk have no clue how to generate results,” he observed.
Addressing what he has done to tackle these challenges, Shrivastava said, “I at least started 10 Airbnbs in Goa. I’m building an entire Airbnb society here and helped give jobs to at least 20 people who were jobless before. If I get to do this at a pan-India scale, I can generate at least 5 lakh jobs in less than a year—if some sensible politician supports me. And guess what? I will do it for free.”