"The foot feels
the foot when it feels the ground."
—Buddha (Indian, 563-483BC)
Word
for the day
Forgettery (n)
A faculty or facility for forgetting; faulty memory, e.g., A witness with a very convenient forgettery
Malice
towards none
"Raid"
sounds like a war cry.
Can't we use a more
civilized term like "Inspected" or "Visited" to report
visits of enforcement authorities at someone's place?
First random
thought this morning
Chinese manufacturers have studied the Indian traditions
and markets very closely. That is why they have been able to penetrate all our
festivals and benefit from it by selling God idols, Diwali lights and fire
crackers, Holi colors, home decorations etc.
Patanjli Ayurveda is using the strategy. They go to the
market, see what is selling and launch a seemingly cheaper version of all such
products.
Emotions are evoked to hide the complete lack of
innovation!
Be with times
The consistent "below
potential" performance of Indian economy has been a matter of concern for
both the investors (especially global investors) and the government. Though we
have seen some instances of high growth (the best being 1994-97, 2005-09), such
growth did never realistically appeared sustainable or consistent. In fact all
such instances of sporadic high growth invariably led to (i) crumbling of
already inadequate physical infrastructure; and (ii) heightened social strife
as the system was not able to complement the burgeoning aspirations.
As already stated on multiple occasions, I have always been
skeptical about the matrix commonly used to measure the potential growth, as it
mostly ignores the qualitative aspects.
It is common knowledge that inadequate basic infrastructure, both
social & physical and unacceptably large level of inequalities
(socio-economic & regional) have been constricting the economic growth. For
example, lack of adequate parking space (and not the affordability) may be
limiting the demand for passenger cars. Poor health due to malnutrition may be
impacting the productivity of labor. Inadequate port capacity, and not
necessarily the demand, may be limiting the foreign trade.
A more serious limiting factor of our growth has been the poor
quality of our human resources and the famous Jugaad mindset. The level of
education & training in the country has been more than wanting. Moreover,
the "quick fix" mindset for problem solving may have prevented
finding and implementing sustainable and scalable solutions.
The ‘jugaad’ mindset has traditionally pushed back India and
Indians tenaciously into survival mode, preventing development of a strong
foundation for economic growth and prosperity.
The ‘jugaad’ mindset reflects poorly on almost every aspect of the
socio-economic life in India. This has severely impacted the pursuit of
excellence, a hall mark of Indian art, culture, engineering, architecture,
industry till 19th century, at least. Today, “Quality” is
something India and Indians are not particularly known for globally.
As stated earlier also, 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.
During the course of my engagement with the program, I always get
a feeling 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 appeared more interested in the immediate payout
rather than the long term impact of the capacity building of the intended
beneficiaries.
Without getting into the debate over issues of quality and utility
of the training under the scheme, and potential corruption involved in that, I
find the endeavor lacking conceptually.
I get a feeling that there is 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.
"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 as mere government schemes or 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
Read with the following
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