AUGUST 08, 2015

By Sabareesh Gopala Pillai

'FIRST things first' is the new in-thing and here we follow it. 'Skill India', the ambitious initiative by the Central Government to skill around 402 million people by the year 2022 with a requirement of a whopping Rs 8 lakh crores over the next 8 years, is missing the point . Instead of converting a white elephant into a robust system, the Government is trying to create a new black elephant and asking it to reform the products of the white one (if not creating another white elephant and coloring it black). In other words, there seems to be a tendency to treat the concept of Skill Development separately and independently from the mainstream education and employment structure existing in the country. This is exactly the reason why these figures of 402 million and 8 lakh crores prop up without taking into consideration the vast quantum of money already being spent on education, employment, labour and other related fields to develop socially, technically and economically this very same population.

There is one fundamental philosophy that sociologists and even other theorists in the humanities discipline, quote quite often in discussions concerning the society and social problems. This philosophy or proposition is that society is systemic in character and that all parts of the society are like a system, related to each other and it paves the way for a holistic approach to tackle social problems. This underlying concept seems to be totally neglected in the run-up to formulation of a skill-development policy for the country since it fails to view the entire eco-system of skill development. What the Government specifically wants through the Skill development initiatives is to tackle the problem of employability through skilling of the youth population. This boils down to the question of why employability is lacking in this country. All roads lead to the system of education and labour prevailing in the country. From the over-emphasis on a mark-based system to falling standards in the Government educational apparatus, lack of industry participation in the education sector and the total breakdown of the vocational education system in the country which was once championed by none other than the father of the nation have been some of the main reasons for falling employability.It was not so long ago that Infosys co-founder, Narayana Murthy had questioned the contribution of even IITs and IISC in the last 60 years, leave alone other organizations. Instead of tackling these problems directly, we are trying to create a parallel apparatus to face this challenge of employability. And there lies the big missing link.

This does not mean that the Ministry of Skill Development is redundant or futile but it should emerge as a focal point for leading and coordinating the efforts of all other related Ministries and other organizations to create a self-sustainable Skill-based education and employment eco-system for the future. In other words, this should be a holistic mission to reform and reinvent the system of education, labour and employment in the country. This reformation of the system would involve skilling, de-skilling and re-skilling both in private and public sector. In places where there are no formal systems, this Ministry should work in tandem with industry associations like, for instance, CREDAI in the construction sector. Further, there should be a conscious effort to link the industry with education and the Skill development Ministry can be a strategic bridge to make it a holistic ecosystem. Furthermore, it is imperative that a 'Skills culture' is promoted across different spectrums and if this is done it would be the final leap in tackling the problem of employability. It is in this cultural milieu that the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship would be extremely effective and efficient and it will yield maximum benefits for a minimal cost.

There are no second thoughts that 'Skill India' is a visionary idea and scheme to make use of the India's currently existing demographic divided to the country's advantage and at the same time provide gainful & meaningful employment to the youth. Current predictions suggest the youth population of the country to be around 464 million (46 crores) in 2022 as compared to 430 million in 2011, with a median age of 29 years. The purpose of "Skill India" therefore, is to create a win-win situation of providing employment & at the same time boosting economy growth. But the mechanism for achieving the objective should begin with innovation and reformation of the existing systems.

The recognition of the need for skilling India came up during the UPA Government's tenure in 2008, when they fixed a 3 tier structural mechanism for skill development with a Prime Minister's Council on top, a National Skill Development Co-ordination Board & a National Skill Development co-ordination below it. But in his Independence Day addressed on August 2013, the then Prime Minister candidly admitted that "in the area of skill development, we could not initially achieve as much progress as we wanted" & to increase the pace of skill development, announced a new scheme which will give a grant of Rs. 10,000 to those who have acquired a new skill. The new government in 2014 ushered in some new structural changes including formation of a separate Ministry for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship with a extremely pro-active and dynamic minister like Rajiv Pratap Rudy heading it. This has paved way for a renewed Skill Development Policy &finally the 'Skill India' Programme on the occasion of the first ever World Youth Skill Day on July 15 th . Skill India includes 4 initiatives such as National Skill Development Mission, National Policy for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, 2015, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikash Yojna (PMKVY) & the Skill Loan Scheme.

The logo of 'Skill India' showcased the essence of empowerment of the individual through skilling in the form of a clenched hand firmly holding a spanner and a pencil and the tagline represented precisely the importance of skilling for the happiness and prosperity of the nation ("Kaushal Bharat, Kushal Bharat"). All this would definitely help in slowly evolving a 'Skills culture' but beneath these symbols, these schemes give incentives for people for acquiring skills. PMKVY (Kaushal Vikas Yojna) aims to provide a demand driven and reward based scheme by providing financial rewards to those who successfully complete skill training programme. Further, the Skill Loan Scheme aims to gives loans ranging from Rs. 5000- Rs. 1.5 lakhs to about 34 lakh youth who seek to attend skill development programmes over the next 5 years.

Should these incentives, which would require precious extra Government expenditure, be the basis for people to acquire these skills in a country where unemployment by itself, both for the educated and the uneducated is a chronic problem and can be a demand driving factor? Isn't the Government already spending thousands of crores to run their Technical schools, Industrial Training Colleges, Engineering Colleges, NITs, IITs and a plethora of institutions? Over and above this, should we again spend more money to give these people who pass out from these institutions to acquire the very same skills they failed to acquire there? Isn't there all probability that this money would be pilfered and would be diverted from those who actually require it? Isn't it better that the Government ropes in the industry and links it up with the educational system so that a demand driven and need based eco-system is naturally created on a sustainable basis without unwarranted wastage of public money?

One flagship concept that is being formulated for skilling youth are alternate institutions called 'Kushal Kendras' across the country, which are akin to the old concept of 'finishing schools'. Taking the example of Kerala where the country's first 'Kaushal Kendra' was inaugurated by the Chief Minister recently, there are 4 units in each Kendra such as the assessment and career counselling cell, the multi skill room, the digital library, and the language lab and it aims to 'help rural youth realise their career aptitude through the best global assessment tools and provides guidelines for them to choose the course that is best suited for them after taking into consideration their socio-economic and educational backgrounds.' Which of these cannot be provided through the existing educational or the apprentice system? Kerala had also taken the lead in creating an Institute of Design. Are we trying to supplement the current educational system or supplant it through an alternate Human Resources Department in the name of 'Skill Development'?

Strengthening the vocational educational system from the secondary to higher education level is the most basic and imperative necessity to create a skilled workforce for a country as vast as India along with a change in content and form of academic curriculum in favour of employability in the non-technical higher education sector. Thus, in India the first point of reform should start with the already existing National Vocational Qualification framework which is now called the National Skills Qualification Framework. The Skill Development Ministry should integrate the industry with this system and expand it and there is no doubt that industry associations would be more than willing to participate since it would be beneficial to them in the long run. This should continue to the higher education level also by innovating the existing system of Industrial Training Institutes and even the engineering colleges. Along with this reformation in the technical education sector, the non-technical sector can also be reformed keeping in mind basic skills required in the modern job market like English speaking, basic computer skills, clerical skills and bring in a culture of nurturing skills for the job market. We need not require an alternate platform for such kind of basic skilling as long our fundamental systems are competent and committed to do so. And even if alternate systems are created, where is the guarantee that such institutions will not turn into white elephants like the earlier establishments?

This does not mean that the whole concept of 'finishing schools' and all post-educational formal skilling systems should be withdrawn. It may be needed in very specific cases where the current system of education cannot and will not provide certain specific skills. For instance, a skill like masonry is an example par excellence. Thus proper categorisation along with a skill-gap analysis is very essential and only in the most essential cases, public money should be used in creating an alternate system for skill development. Moreover, pre-employment training which is customer-made to different industries is also a necessity and industry participation and co-ordination should be basis for such skill development. The newly introduced apprenticeship training programme is a welcome step in the right direction as long as the lead is taken up by the industry and the related associations.

Further, the social value system and patterns of employment in society is important and need to be kept in mind while selecting the mechanism for skilling of different target groups. For instance, in most of Southern and Western India, construction workers mainly come from East and North-east India. Since it is a migrant population and inherently unskilled, there should be a tailor-made system to skill them, taking into account the sub-cultural social milieu in which they exist. The same goes with industry specific clusters in different parts of Gujarat and Western India, where the bulk of workers are migrants from Bihar, UP, Assam, West Bengal and the North East. Further more, over and above this skill-ecosystem, workers should be encouraged with appropriate support measures like health facilities (ESIC), insurance support and other benefits. It's heartening to see the culture of dignity of labour being promoted through 'Shramev Jayate' and other initiatives.

Therefore, a holistic approach taking into account the nuances both within and without the Skill-development eco-system is essential in achieving the final goal of having a 400 million skilled workforce for the entire country. Any attempt to separate it from the current educational or employment/labour systems in the country would only result in wasteful expenditure. In that case, with a current budget of about 6000 crores which is well below the required amount even to create alternate institutions, we may end up creating half-baked white 'Kushal' elephants which will stand alongside an ineffective educational and labour system as a testimony for our inefficiency and short-sightedness.

(The author is an Assistant Commissioner in the Indian Revenue Service and a part-time Research Scholar on a subject related to productivity in organizations. The views expressed above are purely personal.)