Evaluation Study MSE Cluster Development - Ministry of Micro ...

Chapter No: 3 – The Cluster Development Executive/Agentstages, and have not had stable tenures. Most of them do not have much credibilityamong cluster actors and do not command much respect, their near redundancy andlimited usefulness is obvious among SPV members and this has seriously affected theirself esteem, self confidence, morale and motivation. There is also a tendency on thepart of the parent organization to assign them tasks, which are strictly not related to theCDP.3.7 The Training of CDEsTraining and the sustained development of skills is a continuous and ongoing processand should form a recognized and integral part of any long term strategy and policydesign for cluster based industrial development. The key field functionary of thisprogramme, namely the CDE, learns a great deal from his actual work situation andexperience. However like any other professional, he has to keep abreast with functionalskills through well designed training programmes that particularly focus on the functionalcompetencies that are required to achieve the objectives of the CDP. The CDP thusneeds to evolve a training strategy based on the specific objectives of the CDP whereinunlike general management training certain management and administrative disciplinesneed to be focused on.At present training is not being accorded the priority that it deserves. Though adequatephysical infrastructure exists within the MSME-DIs these facilities need to be properlymaintained and optimally utilized. Very limited training opportunities are currentlyavailable for key functionaries of the CDP. Apart form a general training programme forCDEs, a few refresher course are also being offered. However the design, content, andpedagogy of these training programmes appear to be grossly deficient and have hardlyhad the desired impact.Detailed discussion with CDEs currently posted in the sample clusters lead us to believethat a major constraint in the area of training arises from the fact that once a CDE isdeployed in a specific cluster, work pressures and time lines prevent them fromattending training programmes particularly those that are of a long duration. At presentthe absence of a ‘Mentor’ or a local Network Agent provides no effective substitute tomanage the important day-to-day functions of the CDE even for short periods while he isaway on a training assignment.It is therefore suggested that the training needs of the CDP should be effectivelyaddressed through the proper design and conduct of two types of training programmes.The first should be a long-term programme of 12 to 14 week duration. This programmeshould be the Foundation/Orientation Training Programme for CDEs. This programmemust be strictly targeted at the fresh CDEs that are newly recruited. This programmemust be carefully designed on the basis of a training needs analysis and an experttraining institution should be required to design and conduct the programme in one ofthe Regional MSME-DIs. The second type of training programme should be a short termrefresher programme. Under this programme four specific thematic modules should bedesigned. Each module should be of a 10-day duration and comprehensively cover thefour thematic areas, which are as follows:• Behavioural and Organizational Skills for CDEs.• Presentation and Articulation Skills for CDEs.71