Commonwealth to Common Wealth

The government on Tuesday said the ongoing Commonwealth Games may add about $5 billion to the Indian economy and create about 2.5 million jobs in the next few years. Undoubtedly huge events like sporting extragravanzas can be used to induce and initiate human resource planning and can be converted into economic and social opportunities. But it requires sound planning and clinical execution.




Recently Winter Olympics 2010 was hosted at Vancouver. The games were used to maximize economic and social opportunities in the entire British Columbia region. The planning for the same began in Dec. 2002, when representatives of the federal department of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, the provincial Olympic Secretariat, and the provincial Ministry of Skills Development and Labour formed a multi-stakeholder committee under the auspices of an Industrial Adjustment Agreement. The 2010 Human Resources Planning (HRP) Committee included representatives of Aboriginal people, Downtown Eastside Vancouver, the Vancouver Agreement, the tourism industry, the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation, and provincial Ministries of Advanced Education and Human Resources. The committee came-out with the final report called ‘Planning for Gold’ - maximizing 2010-related employment & skills opportunities in British Columbia: connecting labour market supply & demand on Dec. 15, 2003 which was made public.



The report planning premise was between 2003 and 2015, and very much became a starting point in the planning and development of human resources required to maximize business, employment, and skills development opportunities throughout BC. The four key, recurring themes throughout this report were maximizing economic and social opportunities, addressing potential skills gaps, tapping the potential of under-utilized human resources and, connecting labour force supply and demand.



Can we replicate the same?? Can Commonwealth games 2010 be used as a platform to engage human resource and maximize the opportunities not only for India but for the entire South Asian region??Time will tell.