Skilled / Unskilled labour in Himachal Pradesh
Progressive reduction of unemployment and creation of employment opportunities has been one of the principal objectives of economic planning ever since the plan effort was undertaken in Himachal pradesh.
Expansion of employment opportunities is a sine-qua-non to cover the backlog of unemployment and also to provide additional employment to the new entrants in the labour market. While approaching employment as an objective of the Plan, employment generation and economic growth are to be treated as complementary rather than conflicting processes.
The mainstay of the people of Himachal Praciesh is agriculture on which 66.7 1 percent population depends. The topography being mostly hilly , the cultivation is terracecd and about 80 percent of the total holdings fall in the category of small and marginal farmers. The total unemployment picture at national level is therefore , significantly , different from the one obtained in Himachal Pradesh in view of the latter’s intrinsic rural nature . As such , “the employment strategy is slightly different from the overall national perspective and also more biased towards intensive expansion of employment opportunities in rural sector .
Despite the increase in secondary school and college enrollment, Himachal Pradesh is constrained by the low employability of its school and college graduates. Like in other states of India, general education at the secondary and college levels in Himachal Pradesh is weak and not adequately aligned to the needs of the market. The challenge of “educated unemployment” is growing. The state’s TVET programs are constrained owing to outdated curricula and training equipment, limited reach of training facilities, and weak industry links. The TVET programs are fragmented across 12 government departments. Consequently, there are no uniform norms for training quality, certification, or placement outcomes. More than 90% of Himachal Pradesh’s workforce has not received any formal skills training. Consequently, dependence on government jobs remains high. In 2014, 65% of organized sector employment in Himachal Pradesh was in the public sector. This is fiscally unsustainable and economically unproductive.
A sharp mismatch has arisen between Himachal Pradesh’s economic and employment profiles over time. From FY2005 to FY2014, the share of the primary sector in the state’s gross domestic product declined from 25% to 19%; the share of the secondary sector remained stable at 38%, and that of the tertiary sector increased from 36% to 43%. However, as of FY2014, 58.5% of the workforce was employed in the primary sector, 22.5% in the secondary sector, and only 19.0% in services. While the state has broad gender parity in school and college enrollment rates, there is sharp disparity in the workforce participation rates. In 2012, the average workforce participation rate was 87% for rural men and 73% for urban men, but 63% for rural women and only 28% for urban women. As Himachal Pradesh continues to urbanize and the share of the services sector grows, it is necessary to expand market-linked TVET opportunities for women.
It is estimated that net demand for skilled workers in Himachal Pradesh will amount to 515,557 between 2017 and 2022 across various trades such as retail, health care, tourism and hospitality, and information technology. The state has a narrow demographic window until 2022, after which the share of the working-age population (15−59 years) will begin to decline.11 GOHP is keen to take advantage of this demographic window by providing market-linked skilling opportunities to those aged 15–35 years. The Twelfth Five-Year Plan of Himachal Pradesh, 2012−2017 emphasizes the need for “faster, inclusive, and sustainable development”. As part of this goal, GOHP aims to enhance livelihood and employment opportunities for the state’s youth. It established the Himachal Pradesh Kaushal Vikas Nigam (HPKVN) as a specialized skills development company under the Department of Planning (DOP) in September 2015, to consolidate the state’s fragmented TVET programs, align all TVET programs with India’s National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF), and facilitate private sector participation in design and delivery of TVET. This approach is aligned with India’s National Policy on Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (2015), which encourages states to develop umbrella skills development missions with “the overarching power to pool resources for harmonizing the skilling efforts across line departments, private agencies, and voluntary organizations, and reducing duplication”.
In June 2016, GOHP approved the Himachal Pradesh Skills Development Policy (Him Kaushal), 2016 to guide the reform and scaling-up of skills development efforts in the state. The project will build HPKVN’s institutional capacity to operationalize this policy and deliver the challenging mandate of the state’s skills development mission effectively. All ongoing TVET programs will be rationalized and integrated to reduce duplication. The project will add value by supporting GOHP in providing NSQF-aligned vocational training and livelihood development opportunities to around 65,000 needy youth over 2017−2022, expanding Himachal Pradesh’s annual TVET training capacity by 13,000, and extending the reach of quality training facilities and counseling services to underserved parts of the state. This will help the youth of Himachal Pradesh to learn relevant TVET skills and gain the confidence required to make the transition from the primary sector to the secondary and tertiary sectors, where job prospects are better and remuneration levels are higher.
The project reflects the priorities of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) country partnership strategy for India, 2018–2020, which aims to support India’s efforts in facilitating inclusive growth. Skills development is a major priority of the Government of India, and a key instrument for empowering people.16 It is aligned with ADB’s Midterm Review of Strategy 2020, which emphasized the need for ADB to focus on post-basic education and TVET to promote human capital development. The experience gained from ADB’s two ongoing loans in the education sector in India has been reflected in the design of the project.