| National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC)
National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC)
The legal team has two clear divisions, namely, the contracts team led by Madhumita Rajan who is manager legal, contracts and transactions and, secondly, the banking finance team led by Amit Ahuja who serves as manager, legal banking and finance.
We are currently involved in supporting the business in setting up multi-specialty, high quality skilling institutions called the India Institute of Skills on the lines of IITs and IIMs, for advanced skilling in sectors like defence, aerospace, oil, gas, etc. setting up each IIS in a PPP model. We advise on private sector participation, devising transaction structures and drawing up corresponding contracts. We provide support for project management, involving multiple practice areas such as land laws, project finance, and corporate governance among others.
NSDC makes a significant contribution to skilling by leveraging technology-based platforms to provide accreditation-affiliation for training providers, gathering real time data of government schemes. We help balance efficiency versus data privacy or easy-open access to knowledge/content versus value creation for content creators. We also assist in several international collaborations for the transfer of skills and technology, on job trainings and extended internships. We also provide legal assistance to the company’s lending arm which provides patient capital through means of equity, loans and grants to facilitate the creation of 470 training institutes in India. The team also oversees all legal engagements for NSDC’s 40 Sector Skill Councils – led by various industry bodies.
The lack of a consolidated regulatory system is a challenge, for a fairly large (though fragmented) skills universe. To ensure that private industry needs and correspondingly their expertise can be harnessed quickly and efficiently, regulatory oversight is best minimised. The legal team helps navigate the impact of these changes on our skilling business arrangements and we advise on proposed regulatory changes, so as to enhance NSDC’s unique role.
Increasing funding through corporate participation, creating a unified “Labour Market Information System” to aggregate the currently fragmented skilling information, working with other countries to share learnings as well as exploring skilling-placement opportunities for the Indian migrant working population, are some of our next steps. We work closely with business teams and assist in these focus areas. The legal team’s special focus remains on data privacy norms, as well as built in indemnifications and disclosures that clarify the authenticity of data. We are also excited about our increased international engagements and knowledge sharing. Perhaps it will help establish India as a hub for training and skill assessment models.
NSDC itself relies heavily on technology for its business and skilling programmes. Our legal team has also adopted technology in cost effective ways like e-signature tools to reduce turn-around-times for document execution. We also use e-tendering platforms, to simplify the procurement process, to on-board vendors and roll out procurement contracts. We are also exploring the benefits of technology-based research platforms as well as contract life cycle management tools as well.
Our roles have changed from the purely traditional legal advisory roles to that of being solution providers. However, we are very mindful of our role as ethics keepers, legal compliance, risk managers and conscience keepers for the company. We pro-actively engage with business to mitigate legal risks and liabilities. We ensure a culture of compliance with laws in the implementation of our varied and diverse forms of engagement.
NSDC is a public private partnership that is charged with a significant mission. NSDC’s tech platform called the “Skill Development Management System” (SDMS) helps operate scalable, high quality, vocational training initiatives. This system houses large amounts of data, including sensitive personal data of students undergoing training, financial disbursement data, privileged data regarding assessments and certifications. While, NSDC faces and successfully addresses a massive technological challenge to create a robust IT system free of vulnerabilities, the legal team is also a significant player in ensuring the data that is collected, stored and shared with NSDC partners and are fully compliant with regulations that govern data privacy, primarily the Information Technology Act 2000 (IT Act) and Aadhar Act 2016 and regulations flowing from them. Government skilling schemes monitored and implemented by NSDC which provide funds from the Consolidated Fund of India to specific beneficiaries are heavily dependent on Aadhar authentication data. The 26 September 2018 Judgement of the Supreme Court in Justice K.S Puttuswamy vs. Union of India and ors (as well as the previous judgements on right to privacy) has significantly affected the way NSDC programmes are run. The legal team not only advises on the impact of the judgment but works closely with the programme teams to ensure continuity in the skilling schemes, while remaining compliant with the changes in law. The next regulatory change we anticipate is changes in data privacy laws which will not only affect our skilling schemes, but also the manner in which NSDC and NSDC Partners’ e-learning resources are accessed. In addition, the legal team also stays updated on global developments on data privacy such as GDPR and how it affects NSDC’s overseas functions and interactions with industry partners with headquarters in the EU. One of the significant economic factors that impact NSDC and its programmes, is job creation and unemployment data. While NSDC’s focus is primarily on skilling, we work closely with industries, through Sector Skill Councils as well as independently to ensure skilling programmes are closely aligned with industry needs. Our team ensures greater private sector participation, with variety of measures including on-boarding training and industry partners to align industry needs with NSDC programmes.