A job is every man's dream. The dreams may take different shapes across individuals. Ours is a country blessed with a potent human resource, and it is ironical that we end up contributing to the benefit of some foreign investor. For the government, it means more people are employed, reducing their woes. A brief analysis of the trends, is all it takes to understand that we really lack a mechanism for generation of jobs within the country. From the late 70's onwards people were going to west Asia in search of jobs, and the trends still continues. Does it indicate that we have failed to create job opportunities in India?
I beg to differ. Since the IT revolution, it has not been difficult for the educated lot to find a job after graduation within India. The scenario is different in case of a casual laborer, who toils to make both ends met. In this write up I intend to propose a mechanism that may offer a casual laborer employment for most part of the year.
Where will the jobs come from?
Too many households, require skilled people for range of jobs from painting to house keeping. There is dearth of talent, and even if we find some one, he would be occupied with other jobs. The requirements/ job specs can be put up in a government/private owned online portal or employment exchange like organization.
The Government, should ensure that only people with proper skill sets is registered with them.This can be implemented through a certification program run by ITI's. Government can provide facilities for skill set enhancement, which can manifold the availability of skilled task force. The onus is on the Government to ensure the steady supply of talent, and servicing the requirements.
Who will pay?
The employer will pay to the Government who will in turn pay the employee. The minimum working hours would be set forth by the Government. This channel can eliminate wage disputes, and exploitation of the employee.
How will it Benefit the society?
We will have a highly skilled task force, which is instrumental for the progress of the nation. Employment opportunities would in turn improve the standard of living of the downtrodden masses, and hence poverty can be uplifted to some extent.
Such a scheme, if incorporated into the NREGA, can benefit more people.
Dear Reader, you may find so many anomalies with the proposed mechanism. Point them out in the comments section. We shall debate over this, and finally reach some productive conclusion.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
14 comments:
hi sandeep nice one...
but i could see the other side of the story.... every parent in India wans there kid to become a Engg. or a Doc. ....
So who will send there kids to ITI....when they dream IIT....
Its the society's mind set then the government....after all our mind set reflects government...
on other hand if u know.. 100's of years earlier there was a caste system... were a certain type of ppl will only do a certain type of jobs...who r good at that....
they actually did the same..as u say....but was then taking to stake for categorization humans and not the jobs....and human equality came up....
now only category named remained, which politician are talking advantage of....
All in all what i want to say is the plan can only be successful when we start treating each job equal....
Well said..You r rite in tat respect..This very thgt was prevalent in mind while i writing the same...but then, I thgt people r still trying to get jobs under the nrega, so this can also work..
Too much information and too much GK required to reply to this post .. so just a short reply .. I liked the post , but to implement would be a tough task indeed
My observations from the field.
These maybe limited only to the area in which I stayed for 2 months(Rural Nandurbar, Maharashtra). Many people in the rural area do not know about NREGA. Some even think that Indira Gandhi is still the PM.
Your concept is good and could work if we have a good leadership at all levels to implement it.
I wouldn't agree with Abhijeet on the point that parents want to send their kids to IIT. It is mostly an urban phenomenon. When you are talking about the NREGA crowd, they are more than happy if their child is able to complete high school.
Would love to continue this discussion.
PS: I'm assuming Sandeep mentioned the rural crowd since NREGA was mentioned.
This is a nice topic to have a discussion on.
By the way, if you feel that you have a great proposal for social benefit, but one which would work only if "leaders at all levels" put all their sincerity behind it; then the next step to take is not to sit in disillusionment, but to try to reform or scale down the proposal so that it can be implemented at say a panchayat level without much support from higher ups. Then you will surely find takers in your locality and also among prospective social activists like Abhijith.
As for the proposal, I recollect that Kudumbasree had efforts on similar lines but didn't channelize much.
Before leaving, I would reiterate what AbhIjith pointed out - In rural India, if we could get child's basic education as a top priority of every parent, then India will show miracles in 15 years time.
I have serious doubts about the payment mechanism which you have proposed. Unless and until the Indian babudom changes, there is no hope that the worker will get more than 50 % of what the original pay was.
In Maharashtra, I found out that NREGA works were contracted out to private contractors who conducted the work using the same beneficiaries(supposedly) and gave the regular wage rate followed in the region, ie 40 Rs per day, that too only for a maximum of 15 or 20 days an year. Where is the promise of 100 days of employment at a minimum of Rs.60 per day?? And in some states, it is Rs.100 per day as far as I know, MH included.
The inefficiencies in the system is and would continue to be a thorn in the rosy path which any development project would aim to take.
@Deepak Sir
The scaling down of proposal seems to be the right option at this juncture. An expt which proves the feasibility of this proposal, before it is implemented at a national level.
Regarding education, I hope the newly imposed Right to Education,can ring in some change!!
@Abhijith
The inefficiency of the system will creep into any development prjct. My understanding of NREGA is,people are hired to work on Govt's developmental prjcts, which are taken care of by pvt contractors.
In my proposal, the employer is the common man(lower,middle,or upper class), and a streamlined implementation can keep the babudom at bay. I shall talk abt an implementation mechanism in a couple of weeks.
Aliyo.. its a nice proposal..
You are right in many respects..
We know of people who waits for visa so that they could go to gulf countries and do household jobs there.. why? just because it offers better payment..
Now if we are able to provide a similar job here with the authentication of government, i think there will be people to take it up..
But the problem is , since the government comes into picture and since its indian goverment , it is going to take time.. a lot of time.. enough time to make them see whats in it for them..
So, why can't the option be taken up in a private sector? i mean, we all love the easy option , ryt? We love the option of paying bills online when compared to the option of going to the particular office and standing in queues.
So why can't this idea be put forward to a private firm which can readily see its a win-win option.. and will be ready to take it up.. Now since its private sector, quality of work will be monitored and this will make the families employing the labourers feel that their money is actually well spent..
There will come a problem of aunthenticity.. and the idea of advertisement..
so,i can say that i seriously doubt this will work with the help of government but i think its a really good idea which find its way to the public , through various different options...
I know i'm very vague here.. but thats because of my knowledge.. :D or the lack of it, about these stuffs..
I think, thinking about the practicality of this idea is very essential.. Its all about implementing.. There will be thousands of people who have ideas to run this world in a better way and they will all be successful if implemented...
So its only when its implemented will the idea becomes a good one.. till them its just a fantastic thought.. :D
over aakki.. alle??
@ Deepak Sir
I doubt if compulsory basic education is going to make much difference..
It has got to be understood that quality of education matter much more than the quantity.. You can teach every kid to count, add, read and write.. but after that ist essential to identify whats the talent he has and guide him in that way..
I think the whole educational system is flawed.. I believe that if someone had known where i would've fitted and guided me in that way, might have reached a place where i would be doing productive work and would still be enjoying life..
you might say "one have to first identify his talent himself" .. but if u are being honest with urself, you will know its not always possible..
So , i would say, if you can give basic education to the children in rural areas, its good.. but its not going to produce many other miracles other than finding people who read "Job Opportunities" page in rural areas..
As long as we don't figure out how best toprovide education for improving the life of people, its not going to make much differece...
@King
Your observation is accurate..I think an initiative by Govt ll ve more credibility than a pvt organization,whose motive can be only profit.
As Deepak sir had mentioned, it would be ideal, if we can implement in a smaller scale, say at a panchayat level, and success therein, can propel it to a bigger stage.
I ve some sketchy idea on the implementation, still more clarity is required.
@Sandeep:
This might be offtopic ...
Just to point out that pvt contractors have no role to play in the implementation of MNREGA. Ideally only the BDO, Gram Sevak and Gram Panchayat are the bodies involved in it. Usually NGOs are given the task of monitoring. The govt funds such activities.
If work is given to the contractors, I cannot force him to use my labour. Firstly he will ask them to come at 6 am if need be. He might ask them to work at night if need be. The NREGA workers will insist on their own timings.
They might not even listen to him. They will say, 'The government is paying us and we are working for the government, not for you.'
Thus it will prove counter-productive. The contractor will incur losses and the work will suffer.
Last September, India's first govt sponsored social audit of NREGA was initiated in Rajasthan under mazdoor kisan shakti sangathan (MKSS). The amount of misappropriation which my friends found out was humongous and they could've made a fortune if they obliged to them.
Do work a bit on the implementation part and I'm sure this can be made a reality if u work on the finer nitty gritties. If not the govt, we always have some good NGOs ( though the baddies outnumber them hugely :))
@Abhijith
I agree wid you on the role of BDO etc. The issue of misappropriation of funds has been the bane of our society. We ought to implement it in such a way tat this can be minimized..
kollaam!! nee thirichu rashtreeyathilottu irangaan theerumaanicho?
Post a Comment