Prof. M.K.Bhat
Prime Minister Mr. Narender Modi rightly charted the road to economic prosperity through skill development from the ramparts of red fort in his first republic day address to the nation on 15th August. This step is worth praise provided it gets a practical shape in real terms. Services are domestically and internationally gaining importance in business and they cannot be delivered without skills. According to a CII report, if we continue in our current pace we would be having a skill gap of 75-80% across industry sectors. In recognition of this need, the Government of India has adopted skill development as a national priority over the next 10 years. It is for the first time that a separate ministry for skill development has also been established.
India has got demographic dividend due to a fall in its birth rate and improvement in its life expectancy. It is one of the few countries where working age population is in excess of those dependent on them. As per the World Bank, the demographic dividend of India will continue for at least three decades till 2040. This is a potential source of strength for the economy, provided we are able to equip and continuously upgrade the skills of the population in the working age group. The median age in India at present is below to china and many other fast growing economies but young work force without skill can only be a demographic devastation instead of dividend. There are 40 million people registered with the employment exchanges in the country and only 0.2 million get their jobs. People without skills that corporate requires are of no use, may have to face unemployment and will have a devastating social impact.
Skills and knowledge are the driving forces of economic growth and social development for any country. Countries with higher and better levels of skills adjust more effectively to the challenges and opportunities of world business. The skill growth can help in including the neglected sections of the society into the economic growth of the country. It may be an asset in removing the economic inequality in the country and at the same time may help to overcome the global as well as domestic skill shortages. It may also help to increase the labor productivity. Skill develops entrepreneual qualities by instilling confidence in people that they can independently start their own enterprise.
At present 12.8 million youth join Indian labor force every year with less than 5% of the 400 million workforce having formal skills and 2% of the total workforce in India has undergone skill training. People without skill are unproductive but cannot restrain from consumption, thereby leading the economy to a lower level. India in order to cultivate the demographic dividend of its young population may have to take the big challenge of skill development in a regular manner. The high population on the one side and low capacity in skill development on the other demands balancing. The current capacity of skill development program is worth 3.1 million. The ministry of skill development has a target of skilling and up-skilling 500 million people in India by 2022.
Skills involve all sectors of economy and have a direct influence on productivity of goods and services in an economy. They have a tremendous impact on manufacturing sector by increasing their production frontiers..It helps in the coordination within firms and the advancement in technology is developing a need for the cultivation of specialized skills. It leads to efficiency at the micro level and is contributing at a higher level in the form of export of services from the country. India with its big chunk of English speaking people has every potential to export its services in different countries of the world.
India’s share of world trade in service stood at3.32% in 2012 compared to this its share in merchandise trade during the same year stood at 1.16%. This share is likely to increase further as the global economy is expected to face skilled manpower shortage to the extent of around 56 million by 2020.
At the domestic level service sector has attained a prominent position by contributing 57.2% of gross domestic product. Realising the importance of services both for domestic business and as a means of earning foreign exchange, the Government of India has developed a three tier institutional structure for skill development in early 2008. We have got 1) Prime Ministers national council 2) National skill development coordination board and 3) National skill development corporation but all three cannot help us to meet our skill requirements unless we incorporate skill as a part of course curriculum in education. The current education system has only developed craze for degrees without any practical use. It does not help in producing any specialized skills rather leads us to white collar jobs, prompts people to acquire more degrees and still more degrees and at the end there is unemployment. Majority read for they have nothing else to do, there is a drastic need for the vocationalisation of the education. The changing times have developed demand for skilled workers, currently more than 75% of jobs are for skilled workers in the market rather than for mere degree holders.
We have ITI’s and other polytechnic institutions but they have failed to attract enterprising youth rather they have turned institutions for those who cannot afford higher education. These institutions work on the principle of compulsion rather than compassion. Secondly these institutions deal with a set of programs and are least interested in new areas which can give job to students. They are short in number too, so they have remained confined to urban areas only.
Infrastructure and programs for skill development are scarce in rural and difficult areas and thus the problem of access to training is most acute in these areas. Skill development in rural areas can remove the extra pressure on agriculture sector and at the same time it can restrict the flow of villagers to city. Currently people from rural areas migrate with traditional skills and knowledge, so fail to fetch more in the city. Skill development in food processing, poultry, cattle rearing, fish farming etc. can contribute to improve productivity and working conditions in the agricultural sector. It has become imperative to impart agriculture and horticulture processing skills to the rural people.
There is a regional imbalance in the quality and outreach of skill development and training opportunities as some parts of the country are quite deficient in skill development institutions. In order to provide more equitable access across the country, special efforts need to be mounted to establish training facilities in deficient regions. Skills should be developed with due regard to the usability of a skill. The local conditions and raw material should also be taken into consideration.
Approximately 93 per cent of the country’s workforce is in the unorganized sector. This sector cuts across all economic activities and includes both rural and urban areas. It contributes about 60 per cent of the country’s GDP. Strengthening the skill base of the unorganized sector will improve productivity, working conditions, labor rights, social security and living standard of people. It can be held that skill development has every potential to make the saying Har Haath Kam (work to every hand) Har Ghar Vikas (prosperity to every family) a reality.
(The author is Deputy Director (M.A.I.M.S) Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha university,New Delhi)
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