1.5 crore youth need jobs each year. Dire need for a ‘Repair & Prepare’ strategy
Inclusive Growth!
Who would ever believe that the prosperous states of Punjab, Haryana & HP have an underlying unemployment problem?
Raghuttama Rao, Managing Director, ICRA Management Consulting Services, and his team of consultants have looked at the livelihood problem closely across the country, and especially in these states.
As Raghu put it so succinctly at the CII Meet, almost 1.5 crore youngsters need into move the workforce each year, nationally. And the important thing is that they are completely unprepared for it. While a majority of these youngsters are from rural, farm backgrounds, most of the opportunities are in urban, non-farm sectors. At the same time, the education system does not prepare them at all with the kind of skills required for available jobs or self-employment opportunities.
In Punjab and Haryana, traditionally the granaries of India, a multi-faceted agricultural crisis has created a large unemployment and underemployment problem. Crop diversification, and initiatives in agri business and rural, non-farm sector haven’t quite kept pace. HP, on the other hand, has the twin challenge of generating livelihood avenues that keep pace with the inflow of educated youth, while- at the same time - balancing industry, tourism and ecology.
So, what can corporates do - as CSR - to help ‘prepare & repair’ this massive influx of unprepared/under-prepared entrants into the workforce each year?
Expertly anchored by Pradeep Narayanan, the CII ‘Best Practices’ Meet generated a set of ideas ranging from simple, practical ones( donate old computers; take interns) to more-involved ones( active participation in skills development and vocational training), to those with strong business linkages( e.g. co-create businesses that engage and benefit rural communities; make their produce part of the supply chain).
Reshma Anand, Founder & CEO of Earthy Goods, described her experience in helping horticulture producers in HP and Uttarakhand scale-up by providing market access, in a manner similar to what successful packaged goods companies have done for years. Anish Kumar, of Pradan, narrated how rural families in Central India have grown their low family-incomes by diversifying into mushroom, poultry, and tasar.
The important thing now is to translate these ideas into concrete actions.
