The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will initiate a structured skill development and capacity building programme to enhance the capabilities and skilling of workers engaged in National Highway construction, in line with the growing scale, complexity and quality requirements of the expanding National Highway network in the country.
The initiative aims to upgrade the skills of construction workers to meet emerging standards of quality control in ongoing projects, as well as to strengthen capabilities for maintenance of developed National Highway assets.
In a first-of-its-kind exercise, NHAI has undertaken detailed mapping of the origin of construction labour engaged in National Highway projects, collecting data up to the village level to identify regions from where workers travel to construction sites.
Key labour-origin clusters have been identified in 49 districts across eight States – West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.
This data-driven approach will help facilitate targeted skill training closer to worker locations, leading to improved accessibility, participation and long-term retention of trained manpower.
To establish a structured and sustainable framework for skill development and comprehensive training, NHAI has identified prominent local institutions such as Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), diploma colleges and engineering colleges in these regions to be engaged as potential training centres.
The initiative also envisages upskilling experienced workers with seven to eight years of experience and developing them as “master trainers” to support the training of fresh manpower.
Respective NHAI field officers will serve as nodal officers for implementation of the programme at the regional level.
The programme will be implemented in partnership with volunteering National Highway construction companies, with NHAI providing seed funding and participating companies contributing under their CSR commitments.
A dedicated skill training website will also be developed to act as a central repository for capsule training videos and course material to support continuous learning and wider outreach.
According to the Road Transport and Highways Ministry, the initiative will strengthen the skill base of the workforce, enhance employability, improve quality and efficiency of National Highway construction, and promote skill development and livelihood opportunities in remote regions while supporting sustainable maintenance of the expanding highway infrastructure.
