Chandigarh : Unattractive salaries offered by capital goods industry in Punjab is pushing youth to immigrate to foreign countries where they get a higher wage for the same job, according to a skill-gap analysis by Punjab Skill Development Mission (PSDM).
PSDM carried out the analysis in four districts – Mohali, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar, highlighting the fact that the capital goods sector is not finding favour with unemployed youth in the state. Capital goods are machinery or equipment used for producing retail products, instead of being made for end consumers.
Employees working in different capacities — engineer, supervisor, foreman, quality inspectors, welder, fitter, drillers and electrician — in this sector are paid between Rs 6,000 and Rs 10,000 per month, according to the analysis.
The daily minimum wage prescribed by the government for employment in the sector is Rs 293 for unskilled workers and Rs 323 for semi-skilled workers. Expressing dissatisfaction with existing minimum wages, about 75% unemployed youth, who participated in the perception survey conducted as part of skill gap analysis, found the salary paid to them to be insufficient for the quantum of services they provided. For them, the daily wage expectation was between Rs 335 and Rs 1,000.
Low wage rates have emerged as the biggest challenge for the Punjab government for persuading unemployed youths to take up jobs in the capital goods sector being offered under Punjab government’s flagship scheme — Ghar Ghar Rozgar.
Panjab University central placement cell honorary director S K Chadha said the Punjab government needed to make wages more attractive, else people would continue to prefer moving abroad over working in Punjab.
Not only this, non-professional environment in local industries where wages are provided in cash, no formal offer letters being given to employees, and increased hiring of daily wage workers instead of full-time workers, has affected preference among youth.
A periodic revision of minimum wages in sync with market growth and inflation has been recommended, besides, formation of a task force for revision of minimum wages and to examine the issue critically.
The gap analysis has also flagged the inability of micro, small and medium entrepreneurs (MSME) to expand business due to lack of support from the Punjab government, leading to low employment rate in the industry. On an average, employment level is only 6-10 workers per enterprise.
For providing adequate support to industry, the analysis has recommended the formation of an industry consulting cell, comprising domain experts for advising local industry. “If the government assists the industry to grow, there will be employment creation,” said Prof Chadha.
Punjab skill development mission director D K Tiwari said the skill-gap analysis has helped them in knowing the shortcomings and have started working on deficiencies.
Grey Areas found during analysis
— Inability of MSMEs to grow due to lack of government support
— Prevalent unprofessional environment in MSMEs
— Unattractive wages in the capital goods industry
— Limited exposure of industry to best practices in the world
— Gap between skill training imparted and industry demand
Note: News shared for public awareness with reference from the information provided at online news portals. Read SKILL REPORTER or Follow SKILLREPORTER on Facebook / Twitter / Linkedin / Google to stay updated with RFP, Tenders, EOI, Jobs, Notifications, Schemes, Projects, News etc. related to Skill Development
