SOIL Report 2011 - ACCESS Development Services

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Potential and Possibilities 131and the National Skill DevelopmentCorporation (NSDC), though dominant,has a limited mandate. Whiletheir different experiences can be agreat source of mutual learning, atpresent they have poor coordinationand focus.The renewed focus on skill developmentprovides the opportunity for thecreation of a nodal administrative infrastructure,such as a separate ministry forskill development/vocational training,which can undertake a focused deploymentof this initiative.2. Vocational education (VE) at secondarylevel: To create a pipeline of skilledworkforce, VE at secondary school levelis essential, and this fact is recognizedby the government (see Chapter 4).The high dropout rate between primaryand secondary education is often due tothe perceived low utility of secondaryeducation for employment purposes.However, even among the rare secondaryschools which offer VE, few studentsopt for them due to a lack of adequatequality and applicability of the courses,and a bias towards academic qualifications.To meet the target of 25 per centstudents within the ambit of VE, thereis a need to make the courses more relevant,and to establish industry/employmentlinkages as an incentive for moreyouths to join VE.3. Diverse and decentralized delivery channelsfor skill training: The sheer size,heterogeneity, broad age range, widegeographical coverage, poor educationaland income status and gender andsocial disparity poses a huge challengeto skill development initiatives. Moredecentralized approaches to delivery(e.g., mobile training, distance learning,involvement of panchayats, municipalitiesand local bodies) will be required tomeet the diverse needs and constraintsof these segments.4. More support to quality: As shown inChapter 4, skills providers offer overlyshort courses which struggle to add valueto the kind of job an unskilled workermight be offered off the street. Thegovernment has been putting excessiveemphasis on numbers, not quality. Yet itis the young people with quality trainingwho will ensure lifelong employability,sustainability of the jobs they access andthe capacity of the industry and servicesto grow in the longer term. Along withsupport in curriculum content andtraining skills, the government mustbalance the emphasis on short-termcourses with long-term and in-depthcourses (i.e., courses with a duration ofmore than six months) which even thepoorest can afford.5. Addressing the management environmentfor trainees: Chapters 4 and 5 showedthat there are problems in the employers’perception and expectations fromyoung trainees which reduces theirchances of staying in employment,learning on the job and achieving success.Indian firms are well known fortheir weak second-tier managementand this reflects in the poor ability ofsupervisors to guide, mentor, counseland persuade young trainees to stay onand become productive. Furthermore,the low-quality jobs which prevail in themarket (see Chapter 5) are the result ofthe managers’ inability to organize workand guide and motivate workers towardsimproved efficiency. In spite of theshortage of good junior managers facedby the Indian firms, the government’svocational skills programme has so farignored this challenge. This gives rise tothe question whether the governmentcan extend the same support towards anenvironment for training junior managers,as it has for manual and low-endskills.6.2.2. Market efficiencyand inclusionMarket inefficiencies are one of the mainbottlenecks that keep the poor excludedfrom gainfully participating in and benefitingfrom socioeconomic growth. Various
132 State of India’s Livelihoods Report 2011factors, ranging from government policiesto information asymmetries contribute tothese inefficiencies. Three specific marketswhich hold opportunities for reforms, andwill have direct impact on the livelihoodoptions of the poor are the markets for ruralproduce, for financial services and labourmarket. The following paragraphs discussthe potential improvements suggested forthe 12th Five Year Plan:1. Market for rural produce: Rural producers(farmers, artisans, weavers, vegetablegrowers, self help groups [SHGs], etc.)typically fail to realize the value of theirproduce due to poor market-linkages.Besides loss of value of the produce dueto intermediaries in the long supplychain, the producers are also handicappedby their lack of knowledgeof the market trends. Additionally,often the government’s own policiesand mechanisms (e.g., interstate octroiwhich hampers the free movement ofagricultural produce to high-value markets,procurement portfolio of grainsfor public distribution systems [PDS]and Agricultural Produce MarketingCommittee [APMC] Act) also resultin de-linking the producers from themarkets.Inputs by the stakeholders for the 12thFive Year Plan offer many options to thegovernment to smoothen these marketlinkages; for example:• Decentralized procurement: Whilethe government provides a readymarket through procurement of PDSgrains from the farmer at MinimumSupport Price (MSP), the procurementthrough Food Corporation ofIndia (FCI) is predisposed towardscertain regions and states, and alimited variety of grains. As a result,farmers from the other states, andthose producing other grains, are notable to get a fair price for their produce.A more decentralized approachfor procurement and involvement oflicensed private entities in procurement(to avoid putting pressureon an already stretched FCI) is onepossibility which can augment thefarmers’ reach to the market.• Modification in APMC Act: Thoughthere is no MSP for the perishablehorticultural produce (vegetables,fruits), these products come underthe APMC Act, and the producerscan sell them only through theAPMC mandis, and often only indesignated regions. The collusionamong the mandi operators deniesthe producer a fair remuneration fortheir produce. To take care of theseanomalies, the 12th Five Year Plan islikely to suggest modifications in theAPMC Act to exclude horticulturaland perishable produce entirelyfrom its ambit, and encourage theproducers to sell directly to privateentities.• Investment in market creation: The‘Issues to Approach Paper’ of thePlanning Commission (2011) suggeststhat creation of functioningmarkets for both inputs and outputsand investments in better ruralinfrastructure for storage and foodprocessing are an important focusof the 12th Five Year Plan. Facilitiesfor post-harvest handling, storage,processing and so on for perishableitems, and reliable market extensionservices for items produced frominherited skills, such as handicraftsand so on will greatly enhance linkagesof rural economy with externalmarkets, and allow the small ruralproducers to realize a better price fortheir produce.2. Market for labour: As discussed inChapter 2, India’s labour market ischaracterized by a large unorganizedworkforce, which lacks regulatory protection,and poor quality jobs. The 12thFive Year Plan will address these issues,
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State of India’s Livelihoods Repo
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State of India’s Livelihoods Repo
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ContentsList of TablesList of Figur
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List of Tables1.1 Growth rate of Gr
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List of Figures1.1 Pattern of GNP a
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List of Boxes1.1 India a country of
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List of Abbreviations3PLADBAEPSAICT
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List of AbbreviationsxvMKSSMoEFMoRD
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PrefaceACCESS has been bringing out
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Prefacexixbring out yet another vol
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AcknowledgementsA lot of work, ener
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State of India’sLivelihoods 2011:
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State of India’s Livelihoods 2011
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Livelihoods of the PoorIt is now co
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Livelihoods of the Poor 19of employ
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Livelihoods of the Poor 21significa
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Livelihoods of the Poor 23last two
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Livelihoods of the Poor 25Figure 2.
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Livelihoods of the Poor 27If person
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Livelihoods of the Poor 31Table 2.3
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Livelihoods of the Poor 33home-base
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Livelihoods of the Poor 35(13.4 mil
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Livelihoods of the Poor 37on their
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Livelihoods of the Poor 39Early exp
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Livelihoods of the Poor 41(Chintan
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Livelihoods of the Poor 43A study b
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Livelihoods of the Poor 45systemati
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Livelihoods of the Poor 47and sanit
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Livelihoods of the Poor 49dispropor
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Livelihoods of the Poor 53make an i
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Livelihoods of the Poor 55and sanit
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Reflections onLivelihoods Policies3
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Reflections on Livelihoods Policies
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Page 104 and 105: Reflections on Livelihoods Policies
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Page 152 and 153: Potential andPossibilities6.1. Intr
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Page 172 and 173: Potential and Possibilities 149Saxe
Page 174 and 175: About the Editorsand ContributorsTh
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