Millions of reams have been used to write and publish about the demographic characteristics of India. Many stories, themes and strategies have been built around the young demographic profile of 1.25bn Indians.
Almost all these stories and strategies recognize the young Indian as a great opportunity – “Demographic dividend” for the Indian economy. A few of them have words of caution also. Failure to channelize this vast reservoir of energy into productive streams may not only dissipate the demographic dividend but also prove to be counterproductive in terms of widespread civil unrest and violent disruptions.
I have not come across any presentation that classifies this demographic profile as the solemn accountability and responsibility of India to the world.
The global community has always valued resource rich nations, expecting them to behave in a responsible manner to preserve the global order.
The capital rich western world has been expected to help the poor and starved of the world. The world looked forward to them to fund technological advancement, preservation of cultural heritage, assisting global growth and development. Even after taking full cognizance of the allegations of imperialism and suppression, I believe that financially rich communities have worked for the betterment of human life by funding technological innovation, life science research & development, productivity enhancement, and development assistance to the economically lagging world.
Similarly, nations rich in natural resources like minerals etc. have been expected to prospect and exploit these resources in optimum manner to assist the sustenance and growth of the global economy.
My point is that now since India possesses the largest pool of prospective workers for the world, should it not be responsibility of Indian government to prospect, grow, and develop this resource for the larger benefit of the global community.
This is even more pertinent in the context of the current global context. In places like Europe and Japan the root cause of the economic challenges could be traced to their aging demographic profile. China is also like to join the club soon. Under the circumstances it is the responsibility of India to provide educated, skilled and trained workforce to the global economy.
A number of research papers and surveys have shown that (a) Child and mother nutrition level in India is sub-standard consequently child mortality rates are poor; (b) higher and professional education standards are extremely poor consequently a large number of Indian graduates are unemployable even in routine jobs; (c) There is acute shortage of competent scientists to scale up research and development (R&T) activities to make Indian businesses competitive at global stage.
“Skill India” and “Make in India” are noble
ideas for human resource development. But we need to make sure that these do
not end up prospecting and developing only blue collar low skilled workers. In
that case India will not only fail in its responsibility to global community
but also slither back into the lower orbit of economic development.
Be with times
Occasionally I get the opportunity to work with some of the active participants in the Prime Minister Skill Development Scheme. After having witnessed the training process and assessing the training content & trainers’ quality, I have mixed feelings.
I get a sense that this scheme might not be much different from MNREGA or its previous incarnation, viz., JLN Grameen Rozgar Yozna. The facilitator, the trainer & the trainee all appear more interested in the immediate payout rather than the long term impact of the capacity building.
There seems no primary driving force behind the skill development mission. It just addresses the status quo; no “forward looking” involved. Such a massive exercise simply ignores the global trends in automation & robotics changing the economic landscape faster than ever.
The prospective trainees just go out in the market, search for the “Required” board hanging outside some work place and seek training so that they could get into that work place. There is no aptitude test of the trainee, demand assessment of the skill, or sustainability of the business that would employ that skill.
Imagine, half a million embroidery workers getting trained in three years only to find that automatic machines have replaced their skills; or a million dairy workers getting skill training only to discover that all dairy farms have been fully automated; or five million commercial drivers trained to find that vehicles needing a driver are no longer produced.
Arguably, the training improves workers’ immediate employability. It may also aid the industry inasmuch as it augments the availability of skilled and semi skilled workers. The logical extension is productivity enhancement. A deeper study is required to establish these benefits.
But, my point is that should the skill building mission not have a larger vision. Should it be perpetuating the status quo or should it be forward looking?
And for god sake why do we need 100,000 yoga teachers, when a free app on everyone’s smart phone can guide everyone interested in learning yoga. A Rs100 DVD can do the trick in schools. The required TV set and DVD player will cost just one salary of the yoga teacher.
We need to make sure that “Skill India” and “Make in India” do not end up as mere political slogans. If you ask me, I would focus on the following five skills in the initial phase of the mission:
(a) Old age & child care: The changes in demography (more old people & more working couples), will keep this skill relevant. It is at least 50yr when robots become preferred worker to take up this job.
(b) Religious preachers: Each individual will have their own problems and would need a unique personalized solution. Robots or youtube tutorials may not take up this job any time soon. (I am glad to note that MP government has taken an initiative in this direction)
(c) Sportspersons: Despite a large number of youth hooking up to virtual gaming, physical sports remain as popular.
(d) Artists & entertainers: Regardless of advancement in technology, painters, singers, sculptors, performers, moviemakers might still remain in demand.
(e) Police and security personnel
Vijay Kumar Gaba 