The numbers are mind boggling. The government estimates that India will have a labour force of a whopping 500 million by 2022. But it is also estimated that around 350 million of them will be without the skills needed for employment. The central and state governments have been trying to bridge this “skill gap” for several years, but the chasm has only been widening.

Will a law on this help? That’s what a sub-group of chief ministers on skill development, constituted in March by NITI Aayog, believes. Headed by Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, the group has been looking at the shortcomings in current skill development programmes across the country. Its report to the government, submitted in September, has now been made public by the Aayog.

Recommending a right of youth to skill development law, the sub group says, “It was felt that such a right-based legislation backed by robust implementation will generate greater demand, remove the low esteem attached to vocational education and encourage more young persons to seek skill training.”

The union minister of state for skill development and entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy indicated a few months ago that his ministry was in favour of such a law.

Chhattisgarh is the only state with a Right of Youth to Skill Development law. According to the 2013 law, anybody between 14 and 45 years has the right to get trained in a vocational course, within 90 days of the person approaching the local district collector. 

“The district collector is bound to enroll the person in the course of the applicant’s choice within 90 days. In case that doesn’t happen, an applicant can approach a higher authority with the grievance,” says Priyanka Shukla, chief executive officer, Chhattisgarh State Skill Development Authority, the agency responsible for implementing the law..

The law has impressed the central government. “We are closely studying it and the recommendations of the sub-group are very useful. We hope to draft a law very soon after we discuss it with other ministries and state governments,” an official in the ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship states. 

“The law in Chhattisgarh has been fairly impactful. The central government can draw lessons from the state and improve upon it,” says Supriya Banerji, principal adviser, skill development, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
The emphasis on skill development is not new. In 2009, the national policy on skill development came into being with a vision that by 2022, a 500-million strong labour force would be equipped with the right skills that would make them employable.

Several states set up “skill development missions”. A National Skill Development Corporation came up in 2009 with the aim of increasing private sector participation in skill development. But a lot more has to be achieved before any of these programmes can be declared successful.

According to the CII, only 10 per cent of MBA graduates of the country are employable, and 17 per cent of engineering graduates.

In 2013, Wheebox, an online talent assessment company, conducted a test in association with PeopleStrong, a human resources outsourcing company, and CII across the country. The test assessed about one lakh students on their numerical and logical ability, communication skills, domain knowledge, and so on. But it found that only 33.95 per cent of them were employable. This means about 2/3rd of the Indian skill pool is not fit to hold a job — or 350 million people in 2022.

Among the many skills that need to be focused on are those required in the building and construction, beauty and wellness, retail, transportation and logistics, domestic help, tourism and travel, furniture and furnishings and healthcare industries and private security services. “Besides the core skills, people also need soft skills. For instance, people should learn how to interact with others. We overlook these soft skills whereas these are very important,”  Banerji says. 
The sub-group of chief ministers also noted that the “pathway to career growth through skill development is yet to strike among the unemployed/under employed.”

There are many reasons for this. Training bodies such as the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) are underutilised, there is a lack of trainers and inadequate training facilities. But there is renewed enthusiasm with a new ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship coming into being after the National Democratic Alliance government, led by Narendra Modi, came to power last year.

Some states such as Rajasthan have launched massive skill development programmes in a bid to train youngsters in various vocations. But experts say that these are faltering because of inadequate planning. 

And a law on the right to skill development can make things worse. “You cannot train people in skills blindly. That’s what is happening in Rajasthan where government policies have led to an over-capacity of ill-trained people in towns and cities,” says Pradeep Pundhir, founder, Society for Public Education Cultural Training & Rural Action (Spectra), an Alwar-based organisation that works for rural empowerment and skill development.

Pundhir gives the example of Alwar where scores of youngsters are being trained in air conditioner repair and other such skills for a period of two weeks to a month. “First of all, it is too short a period and these people will find it hard to find employment in a town like Alwar. What is the use of such skills when they cannot get employment,” Pundhir asks.
A law, he fears, will lead to many more people being trained — but ending up jobless.

Shukla says that Chhattisgarh is trying to overcome such problems. “We have conducted a need-based household survey across the state to understand the needs of the youth. This way we can fill the skill gap,” Shukla says. The state government has collected around 7.5 lakh applications in the survey with details on what people would like to be trained in. “We will devise courses based on this survey.”

For instance, the Chhattisgarh government has asked the central government to approve courses on training people in management of minor forest produce, which is the mainstay of tribal people.

Banerji believes there is an urgent need for courses in rural areas focusing on agriculture, horticulture, dairy, poultry and fisheries and other skills. 

Pundhir agrees. “Most of the training is currently taking place in towns and cities with a focus on city-based trades. Unless governments focus on the youth in rural areas, the right to skill development will not achieve anything.”

One problem that governments could face is the huge dearth of skill development trainers. According to the ministry of labour and employment, more than 70,000 instructors will be required to train around 15 lakh students in ITIs alone in the coming years. 

“There will be many problems even if the law on right to skill development is passed at the central level, but I think if the governments show the will, anything can be achieved,” Shukla says.