The lockdown in India has highlighted the issue of skills mismatch. Migrant workers who survived the perilous journey back to their home-states were confronted by yet another problem. Electricians, masons, painters, domestic workers, plumbers, and others had skills that were suited to urban or peri-urban life, but of little use in their home villages.
In the rural economy, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has been particularly helpful. But the only jobs offered under it demanded unskilled manual work. Where, then, is an electrician or plumber or domestic worker to go where jobs match their skills?
The Story Of India’s Informal Workers
Over 80% of India’s workforce is employed in the informal sector. The “informalisation” of employment in India though is much larger. Informal workers are largely illiterate, a bulk of whom migrate to urban centres because there are no jobs in the rural economy, especially in agriculture.
In ‘Destination Cities’, where workers go in search of jobs, their basic rights to minimum wage and social security benefits are very often not accessible to them. Further, many workers do not have certification (or proof) of skills acquired by them. To empower informal workers and ensure their employability in jobs is commensurate to their competence, a different outlook to skilling is necessary.
Enter ‘Recognition of Prior Learning’ Schemes
In 2016, the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) Scheme was launched under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna (PMKVY). It set out to “evaluate a person’s existing skill sets, knowledge and experience gained either by formal, non-formal or informal learning.” The objective: providing industry-relevant skills to earn a livelihood.
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Another big program is the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojna (DDU-GKY). The DDU-GKY skilling ecosystem combines industry partnerships and partnerships with employers to provide training and employment for a candidate.
The current RPL regime in India involves a five-step process, involving mobilisation, pre-screening and counselling, orientation of the learner, her assessment and final certification. Under the current system, prior experience and skills can be assessed and certified by project implementing agencies. These agencies can certify skills in several locations ranging from RPL camps, employer’s premises RPL centres, and in collaboration with best-in class employers.
There are several lacunae in the present RPL system. For one, it ignores social contexts and over-emphasises formal education. It is employer-driven instead of employee-driven. And there is a lack of incentives to get certified. This begs the question: does the scheme really serve the most marginalised informal migrant worker and guarantee employment opportunities after training?
All of this must be revisited to ensure better livelihoods for the informal workforce in India.
What Makes A Worker-Driven RPL System?
Seven key steps to improve Effectiveness of the skill recognition regime for informal workers in India are as follows:
1. A flexible approach to skill qualification and assessment
2. Innovative training methods for trainers and learners
3. Adopting experiential learning methods
4. Creating a supportive ecosystem to mobilise learners
5. Empowering women, people with disabilities, and LGBTQAI+ persons
6. Partnering with civil society
7. Partnering with the private sector
The present skills certification and upgradation regime in India caters only to the formal sector workforce while leaving out the majority of workers who are engaged in informal work. Training centres boast industry partners; but there is no mention of a worker in a small scale biscuit factory, or a domestic worker. Methods of assessment are not flexible and do not take into account the practical experience gained on the job by informal workers. Lack of strict evaluation criteria compromises quality standardisation, and an information asymmetry makes the skilling ecosystem inaccessible to marginalised informal workers. Lack of gender-inclusive outreach and skilling programs for women and LGBTQAI+ workers, absence of education, health and rehabilitation facilities for children of migrant workers only exposes the extent to which the informal workforce is excluded from the skilling regime in India. A review of these gaps provides the basis for the proposed practical interventions to establish a vibrant, inclusive skilling regime in India for informal workers.
It is only through a flexible skill certification and upgradation system (which takes account of the work arrangements and environment within the informal economy) that India can start to increase employment opportunities and sustainable livelihoods for all.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the authors Ms. Niharika Kaul, Program Officer, Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) and Dr. Rajesh Tandon, Founder-President, PRIA
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