Wadhwani Foundation, the non-profit organisation founded by Indian-American billionaire Romesh Wadhwani, will help the Narendra Modi government develop a national jobs platform that can become a single touch point for job seekers and job providers across India. Ajay Kela, president and CEO of Wadhwani Foundation, said the pilot rollout of the platform could happen by mid-2025.

The plan is to integrate all existing state and central government platforms to form the backbone of a national jobs platform. “Just like Aadhar is for identity management and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is for payments, we want to build a job creation, job fulfilment and a connection platform, all together, serving as a national jobs platform”, Kela said.

The foundation believes the initiative will help create living-wage jobs and millions of Indians access better job opportunities, enhance their skills, and improve their livelihoods. The objective is to leverage AI-powered solutions and with the help of a network of experts, democratise access to job creation, skilling, and placement services, benefiting entrepreneurs, students, micro-businesses, and more.

“When we presented the idea to Prime Minister Modi, we said the country needs a national jobs platform, and we can create an open platform, where other providers with similar capabilities can also be brought into the platform”, Kela said. Wadhwani Foundation is looking to hire a leader who will drive this close partnership with the government until the government takes over, just like Aadhaar was taken over, he added.

Wadhwani Foundation has a multi-pronged approach to job creation which includes platforms like the National Skills Platform, the National Entrepreneur Platform, and the National Placement Platform to address key employment and business sector needs. “Powered by the proprietary mobile-first and AI-driven technology platform GenieAI, these platforms offer a combination of AI tools and human expertise, including personalized guidance, expert master classes, and interactive resources. This ensures that job seekers, new-age entrepreneurs, and small and micro-businesses are equipped with the tools, resources, and connections they need to thrive and realise their full potential”, the foundation states.

The foundation says it is also in discussion with the government for a multilingual, AI-powered Citizen Services Platform to provide essential information, eligibility checks, and grievance lodging services for government schemes, and a National Platform for Micro-Entrepreneurship, which aims to empower 3-5 million micro-entrepreneurs to create an additional 5 million jobs potentially.

ajay kela

Wadhwani Foundation to help Centre set up digital national jobs platform