Some examples of sectors where skill development would be required are as follows:
Green Buildings
In the green buildings sector, it is important that future green building programmes and projects are established with strategies to address skills issues, including appropriate training components. The importance of labour is particularly apparent in retrofitting of existing buildings, where labour costs make up a very large proportion of the total costs (often well over 50%, in the case of wall insulation). In this situation, there are clear economic benefits in maximising labour productivity and eliminating the need to replace sub-standard work. Labour productivity and quality of work are both related closely to skills quality.
Green Transport
In the green transport sector, the shift from a diesel-based mass transport system to CNG involves engine modifications, and requires an increase in two types of employment: filling station attendants and mechanics. In India, currently the skills gap is more for mechanics, with a shortage of authorized service centres. Building technical capacity will be essential. The demand for bio-fuel and bio CNG trained mechanics will rise dramatically, as will the need for quality training institutions. In the absence of formal training, non-formal training arrangements are evident, where mechanics trained in diesel engines pick up the knowledge relating to CNG engines through on-the-job training as they work alongside formally trained mechanics.
This is a huge opportunity that the sanitation sector must leverage. At present, there is no separate Sector Skill Council (SSC) looking at sanitation. The two Sector Skill Councils which are working on sanitation related job roles are the Construction SSC and Plumbing SSC. What we need going forward is to leverage the various platforms built around skill development to bring the conversation around the economy of jobs in the sanitation sector to the forefront. This includes platforms like the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal VikasYojana that was launched just about a year ago with the aim of giving as many as 2.4 million young Indians industry-relevant training with an elaborate certification scheme. The target for skilling is also aligned to demand from other flagship programmes launched such as the Swachh Bharat Mission.
The ISC’s core philosophy is around Build-Use-Maintain-Treat. These are the four steps towards sustainable sanitation, representative of the entire value chain. The potential of creating livelihood avenues and entry points at each step are tremendous. For example, the waste management stream of the sustainable sanitation value chain has a great potential of generating highly specific skilled jobs. The process of scientific waste management requires skilled and trained manpower to handle various sub-activities such as waste collection and transportation, recycling, treatment, and disposal. Such opportunities need to be brought to the forefront, formalised and leveraged. Furthermore, according to corporates like Kohler, the sanitation industry in India is sized at about INR 5,000 crores and needs approximately 3,00,000 trained and qualified plumbers. The need is growing at a rate of 12% every year. But the current plumber strength is less than half the need from the industry. Such insights and practical knowledge can only be brought to the surface by bringing together multiple stakeholders like corporates, implementation partners and multiple Ministries within the Government to discuss and deliberate on a way forward.
At the ISC, we believe that the opportunity around the economy of jobs in the sanitation sector is immense and yet to be tapped. India has scores of unemployed youth, educated yet unemployed due to the absence of any professional qualification or vocational training. To move forward, the ISC is working to spur the discussion around job creation and economic models in the sector, leveraging skill development platforms as well as the start up wave engulfing India. In order to ensure sustainability, there is a dire need to address the issue of the economy of jobs in the sanitation sector to support the overall agenda to make India ODF by 2019 and beyond.
Therefore, creation of a skilled workforce is absolutely essential for the Green Economy. Educational Institutions have to collaborate with the Government as well as Industry to develop course curricula with specific needs to address such issues. Vocational courses in such aspects may also help a great deal. Numerous Universities in the country now offer courses on Environmental Studies, Environmental Management, Conservation Biology, Natural Resources Management, Power Management, etc. but specific skill sets need to be developed to address technical fields like transportation, construction, waste and water facilities designing, etc. A sound academic base of environmental professionals in the country along with right opportunities in the green sector will lead to our country’s sustainable growth.
Naina Lal Kidwai, Past President; Chair – FICCI’s Sustainability Council; Chair – FICCI India Sanitation Council writes this piece for FICCI publication “Economy of Jobs”.
