Chetan's Musings

The future of work is not too far from today. A comprehensive strategy focused on employability and employment generation is a must to ensure a smooth transition for our workforce . By Chetan Kapoor The true beauty of India lies in its diversity. I have been working in the social sector for over two decades and have had the privilege of closely viewing many Indias within one India.   There is an India that closely follows, if not leads, global trends of innovation and upskilling. It is an India with a workforce that is highly aspirational, well-educated, efficient and professional — a workforce that can give its competitors a run for their money on any given day. In this India, workers are compensated quite well, live in clean and safe environments and have access to quality infrastructure and healthcare. The other India has a far bigger workforce. These people toil every day, sometimes even without a break or food for long hours, and mostly get very little for what they do. W...

Raj Kishore Satnami is from the Kendrapada district in coastal Orissa, from where a large number of youngsters migrate to Delhi and Gurgaon to work as plumbers. He too is one of them. He has never been formally trained as a plumber, just picked up the skill on the job, working as an apprentice with a senior plumber. Raj has rarely felt the need for any formal training in his vocation. In early 2008, when the world was waking up to economic recession in the US, the Government of India had a wake-up call. Somewhere, someone in the corroded corridors of power realized that the Indian economy was ailing from - among other things - a serious Skills crisis. As terms such as "Unemployable" and "Skills Gap" found their way into the national HR lexicon, the expected reaction of the government was the formation of the Prime Minister's National Council of Skills Development, comprising senior cabinet ministers and industry stalwarts. The mandate of the council was ...