Honing Skills of 40 Crore People, What Manipur can do?
- Part 2 -

S. Kunjabihari Singh *

Kerala has already pioneered the empowerment of female construction workers by enabling them to build houses and that too with quite a bit of reputation. Kerala Scheduled Tribe Development Department has entrusted the construction of a housing project for scheduled tribes to an all-female group named, Kudumbashree Constructions.

The team of eight got training for masonry after working for a long time as helpers in construction works. This dramatic gender-role-reversal in the construction industry didn't come around easily though. Under the Kerala government's poverty reduction program, women workers are imparted higher skill in quite a few disciplines, masonry being one.

8 adventurous women formed the Group and are now in the process of constructing 86 houses in an 8-acre plot. Not to be restricted to masonry, Kudumbashree has trained 220 women as supervisors, masons, electricians and plumbers. This income generation by imparting higher skill should be eligible to be a component of the PM's Skill Development Ministry.

Forgetting the Indian context, in Manipur, assuming the same 30% of the total population of roughly 28 lakhs now, we have 8.40 lakh youths either waiting for or already in some kind of employment or still inadequately educated to be unable to reap the benefits of the central scheme.

Without worrying much about the number game, it should be beneficial if skill development program, some kind of vocational education even at the Higher Secondary level of education is availed of. The more suitable areas could be hosiery, garments, food processing, bamboo-based trade, leather, rubber and plastic, electrical machinery, transport sector including machinery etc.

One area where the artisans of the state can excel could be manufacturing or assembling semi-precious-stone-based products. The deft hands attributed to the locals could be an advantage.

Semiprecious stones are not plentifully available in the state. But can be had from Orissa, Gujarat etc. and even from Myanmar. Considering the low volume, light weight of these materials, the import cannot be a major disadvantage. The training part can be suitably designed and cannot be too long or expensive for the GOI unable to patronize.

I had noticed groups of girls, 3 to 4 in small outlets in market places selling rings, ear-rings, necklaces etc. while at the same time they were engaged in assembly of the same in their spare time. The market was of course in a modern city, Seoul, South Korea.

At the end of a fortnight long Interactive Workshop on Rural development in Seoul, in 1999, I happened to be in a vast market complex, Dongdaemumn in the main shopping area. Small shops may be of 10x10 sq. ft. area, manned by 3 to 4 girls were busy selling cheap-looking necklaces, rings, bracelets made of semi-precious or even less-precious, imitation stones.

I did pick up one or two, cheap for the finish and design. I noticed any one of the 3-some whenever not engaged got absorbed quietly into fixing up this or that. It was a beaming business. Such shops function as manufacturing and selling outlet.

On enquiry, it was told that a group of such shops organized to supply stocks to 1000s of retail fashion shops around the whole of Korea. Similar establishments can be thought of with the training part again designed taking advantage of the 40 crore skill development targets of the GOI.

Even otherwise, the PM recently, only on 30 July unveiled National Career Service (NCS). It aims at turning employment of domestic helps, caretakers, plumbers, electricians etc. into less of a gamble on both sides. It is claimed that NCS database has over 2 crore jobseekers and over 9 lakh establishments.

The 11,000 ITIs are programmed to offer over 12,000 vocational programs. Manipur can too think of enhancing skills of such people as could be covered under the NCS with suitable modifications to take care of unique features of regional veracity.

Bamboo-based small-time industry could be one area hitherto not adequately explored at least in the area of mass employment generation. The vast areas under bamboo in at least in 4 hill districts could be a pointer to this area.

The erstwhile bamboo chipping plant in Jiribam was a failure, would continue to be so, for reasons attributable to management, infrastructure and of course, resources etc. In addition, the Hindustan Paper Corporation unit in Silchar was not helpful in absorbing this raw material.

Instead we can explore other small scale, household-based industries. In 1998, I happened to be with the then Industry Minister M. Nilachandra to call on the Development Commissioner (Dev. Com), Handicrafts, in the Ministry of Industries, Delhi.

Among other issues, the Dev. Com pointedly advised the Minister about possibility for manufacturing 'chop-stick' which has vast demands in South East Asian Countries. This cheap, 'use & throw' item is used extensively in the entire countries in the South East Asian region.

He recalled the experience of Chiang-Mai, a small time, poverty-ridden city in northern Thailand. According to him, every alternate household manufactured chop-stick for export. He advocated the initiation of this venture in Manipur where bamboo was not an issue.

He even volunteered for GOI's support in initiating the venture that included training and marketing. We could not avail of the opportunity for we Meiteis are known for being passive and insensitive.

Of course, we bureaucrats do not last long enough for any meaningful initiative to follow-up important works and the successor too would not be too keen to inherit and thus often fail to respect and nurture projects initiated earlier. Of course, the government is not sensitive too.

All these aspirations or perhaps dreams could be converted into real-time benefit if the GOM is conscious, is able to project the requirements and be effective in their interactions with the GOI Ministry.

In other words, they should do their homework for our 8 lakh odd youths to gain the benefit of honing skills along with their counterparts elsewhere. If past is any indication, we may sadly miss the bus again.

Concluded...