CII releases Study on Mapping of Human Resources and Skills in

Confederation of Indian Industry today released a study on the Mapping of Human Resources and Skills in Andhra Pradesh to showcase the potential of the state to emerge as the leader in Skills. The study envisages that by 2015, Andhra Pradesh will have 7.5-8 million new (incremental) jobs to offer. The employment opportunities are likely to emanate mainly from the IT & ITES, textiles, engineering, construction, pharma and biotech, tourism, health care and financial services sectors. The break-up for such job opportunities in terms of skill level is about 4.5 million skilled and highly skilled professionals and 3 to 3.5 million unskilled human resources.

Considering “employability” of these resources, it is required to create educational infrastructure/support systems (mechanisms such as training programmes, vocational courses) capable of training 3.2 million students till 2015.The study further points out that new employment opportunities in the state would not only call for enhanced functional and to an extent sector-specific competencies across levels, but also several “soft” skills to address deficiencies viz Self Esteem, ability to relate with co-workers, time management skills and communication skills such as time management skills, communication skills and ability to relate with co-workers and work as a team.

The study reveals that out of the total engineering graduates and diploma holders passing out from AP every year, over 40% remain unemployed even after two years of pass-out. The primary reasons cited for the “unemployability” of students are disconnect between academic curricula and industry requirements resulting in deficiencies in specific functional skills besides lack of practical training, market orientation., “soft” skills of students and shortfall in appropriately trained faculty to impart soft skills and this is a concern assuming increasing proportions.

The study have set out recommendations to the Government of Andhra Pradesh and suggested the need to conceptualize and roll out a Sustenance Training and Employability Program (STEP) targeted at the large pool of minimally educated but skillable workforce. This has to be a large-scale skill-development initiative, covering around 0.3 million people annually and seeking to impart basic training to unskilled labour (primarily agricultural workforce) so that they can take up jobs in the organized sector. This initiative would cover areas such as workplace culture, safety habits & specific skill training and Advanced training program aimed at people already working in the industry with a view to upgrade their skill.

In order to address skill gaps of trained human resources, the CII Study suggested that the Government of Andhra Pradesh needs to formulate and implement a Employability based skill development initiative that would seek to develop the competencies of the State’s skilled human resources to meet industry requirements. This would focus on establishing industry based skill development centres to facilitate focused skill development, strengthening employment market information to provide labour market information to stakeholders. The objective is to bridge the information gap between the educational institutions and the employers in order to facilitate quick employment for Students.

Other initiatives are aimed at improving the course curriculum to make it more relevant to industry needs and at improving ITIs by introducing more industry / job oriented courses. Improving the effectiveness of IMCs in ITIs will help the state to develop a skill talent pool.

The study recommends the Government to establish a Skill Development Fund (SDF) to ensure adequate resource availability for the promotion of Skill Development Initiatives in the state. The annual funding requirements to support the initiatives outlined above would be of the order of Rs. 650 crore.

CII suggests that the State Government nominate a nodal agency to manage the disbursement of funds that would support the various training initiatives envisaged. The key roles of the nodal agency would include establishing guidelines for funding skill development initiatives, monitoring & tracking fund utilisation and assessing the effectiveness of the programmes.

In this study CII concludes that several measures as suggested needs to be implemented by the various stakeholders—State Government, educational institutions and industry—so that human resources requirements of the State of Andhra Pradesh are met. Once implemented CII believes these measures would contribute significantly to ensure that Andhra Pradesh realise its economic and industrial growth potential. ICRA Management Consulting Agency (IMACS ) was the Knowledge partner for CII in conducting the study.

Speech written for Mr. Ashok Soota, Chairman and Managing Director, Mindtree Consulting Ltd for a CII Concalve

Dr. J Geeta Reddy, Hon’ble Minister for Industries, Government of AP

Mr. G Vinod, Hon’ble Minister for Labour, Employment, Factories and Boilers, Government of AP

Respected dignitaries, Ladies and Gentlemen and my dear friends

It gives me immense pleasure to be part of this event today and I congratulate CII for its proactiveness for bringing this very pertinent issue to this platform comprising cross-section of people such as policymakers, industry etc.

Economic growth in India has, in the last few years, picked up considerable momentum with services and the manufacturing sector showing a great deal of buoyancy. The economy has transitioned into a knowledge and skill-intensive service sector dominated economy in which manufacturing is also picking up. It is this distinctive feat that has put India in the league of fastest growing countries in the world. On the other hand, it has given rise to the issue of insufficient skills in India to meet the growing requirements of the Industry.

For the sustenance of economic growth at about 9% in future, there is a consensus amongst the stakeholders that much greater attention would have to be paid to the area of skill development.

The problems for building people in India can be classified into 3 broad areas:
(i) Problems in Primary education;
(ii) Problems in development of Vocational Skills and
(iii) Problems in Higher Education

In this talk, I will focus on items (ii) and (iii) without touching on the vast issues in Primary education to reduce drop-out rates, reduce illiteracy levels and improve the quality of education.
The essence of the problem in vocational skills is the absence of an adequate focus and orientation in our country in understanding the value and importance of vocations. When we talk of vocations also, we tend to think of them in only old economy terms. There is a need to develop many new skills and vocations which can accelerate our new economy development such as in areas of Digital media, graphic arts, design and digital printing, etc.

In the case of higher education, the essence of the problem is in resolving a paradox of high availability / high unemployment on one hand with a talent crunch on the other. The root cause for this lies in enhancing the quality of higher education beyond a few of the leading Institutions which are, of course, world class and have done the country proud.

Let me now turn to the problems of each of these two areas in some detail.
I. Problems of Vocational Skills:
As per the educational statistics of Ministry of Human Resource Development, total enrollment in technical streams is 7 lakh in engineering, 7.5 lakh in ITI and 4 lakh in polytechnics. Around 110 lakh students are enrolled in other higher education courses across Universities. Out of the total enrollment in University sector, graduates in the conventional streams such as B.A, B.Com and B.Sc outnumber those with professional qualifications with these streams accounting for more than 80% of the enrolment. The prime reason for this skewed distribution of enrollment is lack of capacity to find a place in professional courses.

As far as ITI and polytechnics are concerned, intake and capacity into these courses has been increasing marginally over the years. This is due to limited initiative to market these courses amongst students and increased preference for university level courses due to the perception that higher qualification will lead to better job prospects.

At the school level, there is a lack of awareness and willingness to actively engage in vocational education and training. Against a target enrollment of 25% of all higher secondary students in vocational courses by the year 2000, total enrollment of meagre 3% has been achieved so far. With a utilization of only about 42% of total capacity of 846,100 seats in vocational courses, only about 350,000 to 400,000 students are enrolled in vocational education.

A large number of ITI and polytechnics trained students also suffer from skill deficiencies on account of the obsolescence of curriculum and absence of reasonably latest equipment, tools, and manufacturing/production/delivery processes. The levels of vocational skills amongst labor force in India compares poorly with other countries with only 5% of the Indian labour force in the age group 20-24 obtaining vocational training compared to 96% in Korea and anywhere between 60-80% in other industrialised countries. This emphasizes the point that education system in India is focused on imparting general academic qualification with little or no vocational orientation.

Let me now turn to the issues in higher education.

II. Issues in higher education:

In the first instance, I should acknowledge that the Indian educational system is widely acknowledged as one of the engines of the country’s expansion. The country’s schools are responsible for producing a cadre of highly skilled, English- speaking workers who represent the human capital that has fueled economic growth -particularly growth of the country’s world-class information technology (IT) sector.

To sustain its economic growth, India will have to keep expanding its labor force. The IT sector alone expects its workforce to nearly double over the next three years, from1.6million today to 2.9million in 2009. While IT companies are seeking to recruit so many new workers, other sectors of the economy—including automobiles, aerospace, retail, construction, biotech, healthcare, financial services, travel, and hospitality— are beginning to grow rapidly and are joining the competition for top talent.

As I mentioned earlier, we do have a paradox of both unemployment and talent crunch at the same time. In terms of enrollment, India’s higher education system is the third-largest in the world (only China and the United States are larger). Moreover, India has the largest number of higher education institutions of any country: more than 18,000 institutions (348 universities and 17,625 colleges). The overall size of the country’s higher education system has increased substantially, driven primarily by the establishment of private institutions designed to meet the demand for more education. The number of Indians participating in higher education more than doubled from 4.9 million in 1990 to nearly 10.5 million in 2006. This increase in size has not been matched, however, with an improvement in the quality of higher education, except in our premier Institutions.

The IITs can accommodate only 5,500 new students each year, however, and more than 300,000 individuals compete for these coveted slots each year. Below the limited tier of IIT’s and NIT’s, the quality of Indian higher education falls off sharply.

Except in a few elite institutes, engineering education in India is often outdated and irrelevant. Most graduates do not possess the skills needed to compete in the economy, and industries have been facing a consistent skills deficit. Also, most institutes, including premier institutes, fail to attract and retain quality faculty. These deficiencies in technical and engineering education mean that India runs the risk of missing out on significant opportunities.

In contrast to the United States and most developed countries, the unemployment rate among Indian college graduates—17 percent in the 2001 census—is higher than the unemployment rate for high school graduates. For many Indian graduates, the problem is not just that they lack specific technical skills that industry needs but that they lack the “soft skills”—the ability to listen and to communicate well (in English), to solve problems, and to work collaboratively and creatively—that are among the abilities that many companies are seeking in their new hires.

The shortage of qualified personnel also appears in specialized areas. As India attempts to expand into higher value-added services, for example, it will be hampered by the fact that the country produces only 6,000 PhDs annually in all areas of science and engineering.

The solutions to the Quality problem include, amongst others, the following:
(i) Making Education an attractive career to attract the best quality as Faculty
(ii) Improving quality through Finishing schools where CII has a program for growth of the same
(iii) Vastly expand the reach of e-Learning programs
(iv) A collaborative approach between Government, Institutions and Industry.
Action is suggested as follows:
(i) The Government should lay down the policy framework to bridge the skill gaps and channelise the implementation by appropriately engaging the industry at various levels.
(ii) The educational institutions should strive to improve the quality of education and effectiveness of delivery mechanism to meet the requirements of industry by undertaking measures such as changing curriculum, improving teaching methods and techniques, investing in appropriate infrastructure and working towards enhanced industry – institute interaction.
(iii) Industry, as a consumer of the output of the educational system, needs to support the actions taken by the other stakeholders by participating in the skill development initiatives which could span across various areas such as providing capital to establish institutions or improve institutions, undertaking guest lectures in institutions, participating in cluster level skill development initiatives in collaboration with education institutes, managing all activities involved in imparting appropriate skills by adopting institutes. As Mr. Santhanam pointed out, Industry also has a key role in facilitating interaction between the government, institutions, employers and potential employees.

As far as identification of the most effective implementation mechanism is concerned, I believe that it would vary according to the complexity of skills involved. As rightly pointed out by Mr. Santhanam, the issues of skills deficiencies have to be addressed at three levels: basic skills for entry level / contractual employment, semi-skilled workforce with focus on employability and highly skilled workforce for specialized skills.

It is clearly understood that skill development initiatives at each of the three levels discussed above would call for coordinated efforts from all the three stakeholders but we need to understand the degree of responsibility and nature of involvement of each of the stakeholder in these initiatives? What should be the specific courses / skills to be inculcated at all levels, where should it be funded from, who shall be responsible for execution, how do we ensure consistency of education / training standards, what should be the monitoring and review mechanism to measure efficacy of these initiatives?

These are some of the questions we shall seek answer to during this two day conclave on “Building Skills; Building India” and I am sure there will be fruitful discussions among our panelists on these issues. I also take this opportunity to wish this conclave success in generating awareness about the issues and coming up with innovative ideas which will help in the important national mission of “Building People, Building India.”
Thank You,
Ashok

Words of Wisdom

"Since you usually get what you expect in life, expectthe best for yourself." -- Denis Waitley

"Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely tobe more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks." -- Warren Buffet

"I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done." -- Marie Curie

"I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward." -- Thomas Edison, inventor

"Every failure is a challenge. If taken as a feedback, youare bent to succeed!" -- Unknown

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointedby the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do.So throw off your bow-lines. Sail away from the safeharbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.Dream. Discover." -- Mark Twain

An Inspiring Woman

While working with CII in Bangalore, I had an opportunity to meet a person called Shanti Raghavan, Founder and Managing Trustee of EnAble India, an NGO with the mission to empower people with disabilities.

It is hard to describe Shanti’s Profile-Is she a Technocrat, a Social Entrepreneur , a Singer, a fabulous speaker, a thinktank – very hard to define Shanti.

Shanti’s initial encounter with disability was right at home, when her brother was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease which leaves the patient progressively blind with the passage of time. She and her husband, Dipesh, (who is also a Trustee of EnAble India), played an active role in rehabilitating her brother. This was not just limited to orienting him to speech-enabled computers, or identifying tools and techniques for his studies, but also to various outdoor activities such as cycling, rafting, and snorkeling too!

When Shanti returned from US to India in 1997, she decided to set up her own organization, so that she could use her invaluable experience in empowering other disabled people too. EnAble India took birth in 1999, and since then, has been actively involved in Education, Employment, and Rehabilitation of people with disabilities. It currently has over 80 people registered with it.
Most popular is the Computer Center, which caters to nearly 30 students currently, of mixed age groups and education levels, using speech-enabled computers. She has involved herself in many volunteer-driven technology projects that would aid the disabled. She has also associated with various industries for creating awareness and generating employment. She has also conducted several workshops for parents of disabled children.

Shanti’s unique ability is to think big and yet focus on the details. She thinks of herself as a “road builder”. “Everyone”, she says determinedly, “has the right to have a good road”. What really motivates her is the thrill she gets out of realizing the “impossible”. “I’m still a child inside,” she says with a laugh. “I love to see things being done differently – things which are dismissed as impossible, made to happen”.

A multi-faceted woman with an MS in Computer Science from Monmouth University, NJ, Shanti gave up a lucrative career in GE Aircraft Engines as Program Manager and Engineering Manager to concentrate full-time on nurturing EnAble India. She uses her 12 years of experience in the software industry to give substance to her vision, and manage its affairs. Shanti is talented too – she is a Carnatic music singer who has sung in concerts, she’s an excellent mimic, she plays golf, and she loves cycling. A truly inspiring woman!

more on Shanti please log on www.enable-india.org

Medical Devices from Cow

A Biotechnology company called Regeneration Technologies headquartered in Alachua in US is involved in the manufacturing of Medical devices like surgical implants, Precision screws and Spinal wedges from bones, tendons and ligaments of cows. As the company’s name the implants have regenerative properties, leading to faster healing, less pain and greater range of motion than patients get from parts made of metal or plastic.

The company‘s website quotes ‘RTI's innovations continuously raise the bar of science and safety in the allograft industry — from being the first company to offer precision-tooled bone implants for spinal surgeries, to inventing the BioCleanse® Tissue Sterilization Process, the only proven sterilization technology that eliminates viruses, bacteria, fungi and spores from tissue without compromising the biocompatibility and structural properties of the biologic implant. The company is leading the biologics evolution once again by introducing the Sterling® Biological Matrix, providing surgeons an expanded supply of safe, sterile tissue.’

This company is one of the most innovative firms identified by CNN for the year 2007

Development of Rural Enterprises through Public Private Participation.

A new situation is emerging in India. Very rarely in history have we come across such a constellation: an ascending economic trajectory, rising foreign exchange reserves, reducing inflation rates, global recognition of technological competence, energy of 540 million youth, umbilical connectivities of 20 million people of Indian origin abroad, and the interest shown by developed countries to invest in our engineers and scientists, including in new R&D centers.
The Economic boom being witnessed in India is slowly percolating to the Rural areas. Policy makers have noted that unequal development in India can have a debilitating affect in sustaining the economic growth. The Rural Economy in India has shown a different story. Over the years the Rural India have benefited from the growth process and the rural Economy have strengthened. The Corporate Sector in India have been actively working with the Government machinery at the village level and the NGO’s to form a strategic partnership to develop the Rural areas in India. This form of Partnership is not only focused on developing Entrepreneurs and Rural Enterprises but also it is being extended in the areas of Health, Education, Natural Resource Management and enhancing livelihood options.

The association of the Industry with the rural areas has created a paradigm model which is leading to the economic empowerment of the Rural Area. The Indian Industry led by Confederation of Indian Industry has been actively focusing on the development of rural enterprises and rural markets. An example is the Rural Business Hubs, a concept propounded by CII and the Ministry of Panchayathi Raj. CII in partnership with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj is rolling out Rural Business Hubs in Rural areas to help facilitate economic activity in the rural areas which are likely to emerge as the biggest growth markets in the near future. Under the RBH plan, industry, both large and small will come together with farmers or local artisans to enhance the market value of rural products with the objective of market access for the rural poor and profitability across the value chain and creating enterprises in the long run.

Indian Industry believes that that India's rural transformation cannot be brought about by the government alone. Nor can the efforts of a few enterprises make a decisive difference. Only an inspired public-private partnership can transform lives and landscapes in rural India. Indian Industry have demonstrated that it is possible to create and sustain a model that bring together the government, the Industry , the NGO’s and the community on a single platform in supporting and developing rural enterprises.. Indian Industry is partnering with the Government and the local NGO’s in significantly widening its farmer partnerships to embrace a host of value-adding activities: creating livelihoods by helping poor tribals make their wastelands productive; investing in rainwater harvesting to bring much-needed irrigation to parched dry lands; empowering rural women by helping them evolve into entrepreneurs; enhancing livestock quality to significantly improve dairy productivity; providing infrastructural support to make schools and contributing to the development of the rural.

The Corporate sector is also engaged in actively promoting rural enterprises. The Indian Industry is evolving a public private partnership approach in developing these enterprises. India Rural areas are dependent on Agriculture and other allied activities to provide livelihoods for the majority of the population. For India, to meet its goal of reducing poverty by half by 2015 and also to reduce rapid rural-urban migration, non farm economic opportunities in rural areas need to expand. The informal rural economy is largely unregulated and faces crucial resource constraints particularly finance, skills, new technology and knowledge and Management. Here the need for public private participation emerges.

The Indian private sector with its expertise and technological excellence can complement the efforts of the Government in building up rural enterprises and providing the market access for the rural enterprises ultimately leading to economic empowerment and better standard of living. Such a public private partnership approach will lead to market facilitation processes by identifying the business sector and strengthening the competetiveness of the rural economy. Such a partnership also will bring in innovate business ideas and facilitate the sharing of information and best practices which can lead to creation of innovative rural business enterprises

CSR as a Strategy for Inclusive Growth

Corporate Social Responsibility promotes a vision of business accountability to a wide range of stakeholders besides shareholders and investors. Corporate social Responsibility is the commitment of business to contribute to sustainable economic development working with employees, their families, the local community and society at large. It is an expression used to describe a company's obligation to be sensitive to the needs of all its stake holders in its business operations. .CSR is a part of the multi dimensional process which assumes that the community interests and stability is part of the long term business sustainability. Key areas of concern are environmental protection and the well being of employees, the community and civil society in general. Many Corporates are looking at CSR as a business strategy which can provide long term leverage over the competitors. For example some consumers have become increasingly sensitive to the CSR performance of the companies from which they buy their goods and services. And also some investors and investment fund managers have begun to take account of a corporation’s CSR policy in making investment decisions. As part of the CSR policy many companies are now encouraging their employees to volunteer and take part in community work. Ultimately such actions enhance the company’s reputation and strengthen the brand.
The role of business in Society has been debated in economic literature for a long time. The modern debate on the Social side of business gained momentum in 1953 with the publishing of the book Social Responsibilities of Businessman by Howard .R.Bowen. Bowen reasoned that there would be general Social and economic benefits that would accrue to Society, if business recognized broader social goals in its decisions.
In India, many companies believe in CSR has an idea to give back something to the community and also to empower them so that they can lead a life devoid of poverty. Many firms like Infosys and Wipro have shown the way to Indian companies contribute their part in the nation building process. Many firms are looking at CSR as a strategy for the economic upliftment of the poor and the needy. Many believe the fruits of the Indian economic resurgence should be benefited by all and there is an opportunity which is to be tapped.
Tata Group was the front runner in taking care of the needs of the community. The stupendous economic growth seen in India poses a constraint on the resources and the effective way is to manage this is to work out a sustainable method where the environment is protected, the needs of the community is taken care off, employing the disable and the school drop outs by enhancing their Skills, using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to improve the standard of living of the community etc.
A strong case for the CSR activity is a company’s commitment to sound labor practices, environmental stewardship and good community relations plays an influential role in how it is perceived by the public. In a survey conducted in 20 developed countries, CSR related factors collectively accounted for 49% of company’s image compared with 35% for brand image and just 10% for financial management.

Preventive Healthcare

Charaka, the renowned Ayurvedic physician is known to have said, "Health was vital for ethical, artistic, material and spiritual development of man". Good health is pre-requisite to human productivity and the development process. A healthy community is the infrastructure upon which an economically viable society can be built.

India is one of the pioneers in the health service planning with a focus on primary health care. Now the country is passing through a stage of "Health transition", which refers to the transformation of a society with high morbidity and mortality rates in to one in which people standardly live long, disease-free lives. The life expectancy at birth has increased from 41.3 years in 1951-52 to 62.9 years in 1999-2000. These indicators reflect India's significant achievements in case of development of its human capital. As the public spending on Healthcare has improved a lot, Government and the private sector are promoting the concept of the Preventive Healthcare.
Preventive healthcare is ultimately about increasing healthy life expectancy, improving quality of life and wellbeing, and reducing health inequalities. It is well established that your employment status, work environment and working conditions may affect your health and wellbeing. In turn, your health status may affect your employment status and performance at work.
A healthy, productive and well-motivated workforce is a key ingredient to economic growth. And for most people, engagement in work is central to their economic and social wellbeing and overall sense of fulfillment in life. Corporates are paying attention to the need of having a healthy workforce.
With the Indian Economy growing at enviable growth rates and the rising prosperity enjoyed by the workforce in India, people are adopting unhealthy lifestyles that their bodies cannot cope with. Sedentary jobs, poor diet, smoking and alcohol are all blamed for the dramatic health shift. India leads the world in diabetes cases. A government study estimated the number of diabetics to be about 38 million in 2004, and projected to rise to 57 million in 2025. The onus is on the part of the private sector in India to adopt preventive health programmes. The corporate sector can act as a catalyst in providing information about the lifestyle diseases and employee engagement in implementing a healthy life style within a company.
Preventive Healthcare system envisages having knowledge about the basic health needs, preventing oneself from communicable diseases, lifestyle diseases like diabetes and blood pressure, work related stress and injuries, about HIV/ AIDS and other related ailments which can spread through unsafe life practices and information about keeping a good mental health. Many of the corportaes in India have understood to have a preventive Healthcare programme in their premises. This health programme provides information on the ways and means to stay fit in a work environment.

Given that many conditions are preventable, every health care interaction in an organisation should include prevention support. When employees are systematically provided with information and skills to reduce health risks, they are more likely to reduce substance use, to stop using tobacco products, to practice safe sex, to eat healthy foods, and to engage in physical activity. These risk reducing behaviours can dramatically reduce the long-term burden and health care demands of chronic conditions. To promote prevention in health care, awareness raising is crucial to promote a change in thinking and to stimulate the commitment and action of patients and families, health care teams, communities, and policy-makers.
A collaborative management approach among the management, workforce and health care actors is a must to effectively prevent many major contributors to the burden of disease. The preventive healthcare programme is more of a business model while looking at a perspective of saving expenditures on health and ultimately keeping the workforce productive and healthy.
Globalization has thrown out lot of opportunities for India but also thrown out a lot of challenges in the health infrastructure side where the spread of communicable diseases is faster due to better connectivity. With increased incomes and higher life expectancy rate it is the responsibility of the Government, the corporate sector to join hands and create a health paradigm in India by forming a collaborative Health Preventive and Management programme.

Challenging the Status Quo

Young Indians from all over the country congregated in Mumbai for the 3rd Yi National Summit with the aim to focus on critical issues of Educating, Employing and Engaging the Country’s youth. Over the years Yi Summit have provided a platform for the Indian Youth to voice, share, understand and collaborate on issues they feel are critical for India’s Development. Setting the tone for the event Mr. R Seshasayee, President, CII spoke on the importance of Knowledge and how it would be the force that would drive change. Mr. Seshasayee added that Yi National Summit is happening at a time when Nations all around the world are thinking of strategies to cope with the rise of Asia and the development of the new political architecture. Mr. Seshasayee suggested that the best way of doing something positive for the country is to strive to be the best in whatever one was doing and said that Knowledge should be transformed into an idea, in turn to innovation and finally to enterprise. “If you have a bright idea, you will find money available to support the enterprise” he said. Mr. Seshasayee referred to Management Guru CK Prahalad’s book ‘Competing for the Future’ and said its lessons were relevant in the current context and urged India’s youth to do away with tolerance of failure and be more demanding. The first day of the Summit ended with the music performance by Global Rhythms underlying the need for convergence in music, thoughts and actions.

The Second Day of the Summit started with a discussion on Educating India –One Problem, Many Solutions. Dr. Y S Rajan, Principal Advisor, CII who moderated the discussion said that one’s introduction in the present day was incomplete without reference to one’s Alma Mater. Lt Gen (Retd ) Arjun Ray CEO, Indus Group of Educational Institutions and pioneer Operation Sadbhavana portrayed a grim picture of education in rural India and said that if India was to grow at the fast rates that were being talked about, education in the rural areas would make the difference and spoke of the need for a clear vision on rural education , saying India needed to declare a philosophy on Rural Education. Prof Jacob Tharu Member of Task Force, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan explained how quality and Standards in Indian Education seemed to be going the wrong way, given that test results were treated as the parameter of evaluating education and flayed the social acceptance of Slaughtering of Students in test and exam results. Dr. Radhakrishna Das , Director, ISKCON Food Relief Foundation brought in the dimension of Food for the Soul by pointing out that the midday meal scheme had resulted in students from poor families regularly attending schools as also getting involved in the learning process. Dr. David Wlkinson, Head Master, Mahindra United World College spoke of Creative Learning and suggested Public Private Partnership was a logical way out to better the learning system.

Session II looked at the paradox of people without jobs, while jobs waited for the right sort of people. Mr. Anand Kumar Founder Super 30 recounted his experience in inculcating excellence in the right spirit, in a school without boundaries. India’s Economic growth will be powered by bright Indians who have access to support systems which help them to learn the right skill sets required to succeed. Mr. M Balasubramanian spoke about the initiatives of Dr. Reddy’s Foundation in equipping the youth with skills through the Livelihood Advanced Business School programme.

The panel discussion during the 3rd Young Indians National Summit in Mumbai had a very spirited group of panelists attempting to answer this debate. It was particularly relevant considering that the event’s theme, ‘Challenge the Status Quo’. Mr. Pradeep Kanakia, Head, Risk Advisory Practice and Member, KPMG India executive team, who moderated the event, said we live in an India which is an economic powerhouse, and has gained as a global power. But, as Indian youth stands on threshold of change, does the Gandhian concept of soft methods of agitation hold good, or is the violent alternative, one in which an agitating person literally ‘loses control’ the one that is more likely to work?

The panel deliberated on five issues: (i) education system and whether it prepares citizens of tomorrow, (ii) are we on a social time bomb, (iii) disconnect of youth from political process (iv) leveraging technology and media for engaging youth in democratic process and (v) role the Indian youth could play. Mr. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Director, Rang De Basanti said India was on the threshold of change, and irrespective of ‘Gandhigiri’ or ‘Lose Control’, the first move would be everyone making the effort to change themselves. Mr. Neeraj Mittal, IAS, District Collector, Coimbatore said India’s macro-performance had been ‘stellar’ while ‘micro-performance’ had been poor. He spoke of the immense potential that the Right to Information Act brought out for all Indians, including the youth, and said it was akin to ‘Gandhigiri’. He pointed out that the ‘trusteeship’ concept of Gandhian thought was relevant in the era of money making frenzy. Mr. Govindraj Ethiraj Editor (New Media) Business Standard said before any moves at figuring out a ‘better tomorrow’, it was relevant to find out which ‘tomorrow’ was being talked about, and when talking of education, the issue was whether it helped achieving the goal. Mr. Prahlad Kakar, Ad film maker and director, Genesis Film Production Pvt Ltd said today’s youth wasn’t young enough, because it lacked commitment. He said the right education was one that taught students to ask questions and not just confirm to stereotypes. Mr. Shaffi Mather Founder Ambulance Access For All said the media created stereotypes, which weren’t necessarily true. He felt the present education system just did not deliver, and he lauded the work done by the Knowledge Commission. The panel discussion ended on the note that the oft-mentioned theory about India being two distinct and separate types, one that is educated and has economic growth as compared to the one that is impoverished continues to exist, and that youth could begin to make a difference by making themselves the first unit of change.

Addressing the Young Indians during the Valedictory Session under the theme Does India needs a youth policy, Mr. Adi B Godrej said that India needs a youth policy and such a policy should provide opportunities for the youth and added that the youth policy should be flexible and not rigid. Lt Gen (Retd ) S S Mehta , Director General , CII in his address said that the challenge for India is not whether the country will be known for its economic growth but for distribution of its economic growth and said that the nation faced the challenge of large number of students dropping out of the education system. Mr. Narayan Sethuramon , National Chairman, Yi said that India should be a socially balanced superpower with the youth as the drivers of the economy and added that Micro Nutrition and unemployment are the challenges facing the nation and a concerted effort is needed to tackle these challenges.

The Yi Summit ended in Mumbai with a positive note and called for a collective action and shared responsibility among the country’s youth for tackling the challenges discussed in-depth during the Summit.

Creation of Enabling Environment, key to Development of Backward Talukas: CII

Creating an enabling environment is the key to the development of some of the backward places in Karnataka. This forms the abstract of findings of a study commissioned by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) named Industrialization of Backward Talukas- A report on Magadi released during its Annual Members day meet. The report has stressed on the creation of a viable environment for the development of industries using the local skills and resources. Magadi is all set to move on the track of development. There is a lot of potential for the development of Tourism and Agro based Industries in Magadi which comes under Bangalore Rural district provided proper rural infrastructure and access to market are created.

The report identified food processing as a lucrative investment option for the development of the taluk considering the fact that cultivable area under fruits and vegetables form 9.5% of the total cropped area of Magadi. Taking into account the state’s leading position in Floriculture and the favorable climatic and soil conditions of Magadi for floriculture, the report further recommends development of Floriculture as a possible avenue for employment generation in the taluk.

It also suggested the development of Tourism in the taluk promoting the place as the birthplace of Kempegowda, the founder of Bangalore. The report has also suggested promotion of Adventure Tourism in the Taluk.

Moreover to facilitate employment opportunities for the educated rural youth, the report advocates setting up of rural Business Process Outsourcing(BPO) Units with Public Private Partnership which will enable the taluk to create wealth by participating in the new economy.