In a recent book launch, Arun Shourie made a somewhat caustic remark about the present government that it is more interested in managing headlines about the economy than the economy itself. I was reminded of a famous cartoon by RK Laxman in the early 70s in which the radio headlines on various government initiatives were broadcast. It is a fact that all governments have been managing the headlines as far as the skills ‘business’ is concerned. Following are some pointers in this regard.

• The announcement that by 2022 the country will need a 500 million skilled workforce is one example of managing headlines. This figure had no basis whatsoever but became a talking point for many ministers, Secretaries for a few years. Similarly one started hearing about the so-called ‘demographic dividend’ in every speech without any concrete game plan as to how the bulge can be made productive. Another example of managing headlines.

• Poverty alleviation through skill building was another much-touted term often used by self-serving ministers. What it implied was that during the election time the ministers wanted a skill centre to be opened in their constituencies with much fanfare and somehow fool the local population that everyone trained got a job. Much pressure was brought on the training partners to open within 24 hours training centres and if the training partners refused then they had to face the ire of the VIPs.

• That the training was for the below-poverty-line youth was another effort at managing the headline. We all knew how the BPL card was manipulated and how the so-called BPL youth walked in into the training on a swanky mobile with an expensive phone in hand. The government was interested in the statistics and the training partners were too smart in providing fudged data that served everybody’s interests. That is not to mention a few very competent and honest training partners who often got frustrated with what was going on on the ground.

• That the government spent a few thousand crores on skilling India was another effort to manage the headline. People in the know say that the funding mechanism ensured that the honest training firms wound up their business as the second instalment was not forthcoming. The state government junior officials were to be ‘managed’. Let me not dwell more on this as knowledgeable people know what I am talking about.

So all in all it does look that we are not in the skilling business but managing efficiently the headlines for  skills. We are certainly going to skill 500 million by 2022 on the 75th anniversary of Indian independence.