What’s missing in India?

There is a factory in Jharkand that is coming up with Chinese collaboration. What is sad about this project is that thousands of semi and unskilled Chinese laborers are at work here even as Indian laborers are desperately seeking jobs – a search that takes some of them to cities like Mumbai where they get a hostile and even, violent reception from other unemployed unskilled laborers there.

There are a few facts about this project — discussed in a national weekly in India - that provoke serious thought. Apart from the violation of visa rules, what is remarkable are. The unskilled Chinese labourers are paid Rs 1700 a day whereas an Indian labourer is paid Rs. 87 a day for the same type - The Chinese workers live in a large residential compound with modern facilities the like of which our laborers will never get.

Now let me tell you what the Indian management has to say about all this. It seems that the Chinese laborers will complete the mammoth project in 15 months whereas Indians will take 8 years! That may explain why Chinese are far better paid.

An Indian Analyst, a China expert, says that Indian laborers are highly individualistic whereas the Chinese work as a team. Management experts also say that Indian labor laws make it difficult for companies to hire Indian laborers hence the resort to violating visa rules to import Chinese labor.

See the irony in all this...

Apart from this there is a larger issue that I wish to dwell on...I am a trainer by profession. I have noticed that in India training tends to be focused on ‘office’ workers at all levels and not much on unskilled labourers .

The latter desperately need training, In fact if you look at the excess labour in agriculture you will accept that this excess HAS to find income earning avenues in trade..manufacturing and the service sector all of which need some skills .

Even in the US the current downturn has prompted laid off office workers to attend Technical training institutes to learn skills like car repairing, gadget repairing, carpenters, electricians, painters, plumbers, etc The ‘placement’ record for such people is about 85 %!

Coming to India, who among us has not experienced frustration at not being able to get a trained carpenter, car repairer, or electrician ?Those who show up after repeated delays are amateurs, unskilled and unequipped with modern tools.

An average electrician may not even have a screwdriver. He will also ask you if you have a wire to fix the fuse and will you please bend low so that he can climb on your back to reach the junction box?

Contrast this with my experience in the US [You may have such experiences in other countries including China] The technician shows up exactly on the time we have mutually fixed, is equipped with a range of tools slung on a bag that fits his waist, asks that he be left alone to do his work .He does the work professionally and often takes out his small computer and prints out a receipt!

I can see a torrent of adverse comments coming way, but we must realize that our laborers can become basic technicians only if they are given training in modern techniques and equipped with tools. This can be done by setting up micro - technical schools and micro-financing institutions to enable them acquire skills and to buy modern tools. In effect these people can become self employed micro-entrepreneurs who can be reached by the ubiquitous mobile phone.

There can be some other solutions and I welcome a wholesome debate on this. I would like to cite an example of how innovative thinking has been used to solve an interesting problem in the US.

The medical system here has many problems that are being hotly de bated these days. One issue that bothers patients is the long waiting period to even get an appointment with the physician. In the event of acute discomfort the physician will tell you to go to a hospital and wait in the corridors till some doctor sees you. The scenes at such hospitals are reminiscent of a Government hospital in India. But innovative thinking led to another solution.

A chain of convenience stores called CVS, has set up what is called Minute Clinic where a nurse who has been trained to handle common non - life threatening problems will attend and prescribe medicines. In this work she is assisted by her computer where routine treatment procedures are laid down. In the event of a complication she can contact a doctor and seek his guidance. A typical patient is in and out in Minutes –hence the name.

Now I must share a bitter truth with readers. The Confederation of Indian Industries[C.I.I.] suggested to the Government that they could jointly set up training centres of the kind I have suggested earlier. The response from several quarters was shocking. The word ‘skill’ seemed to evoke disdain according to a CII spokesman .

It appears that as a nation we tend to look down on ‘ skills’ unless they are related to office or managerial skills—an upper class bias if ever there was one. It would be a mistake to conclude that only the upper classes had such a bias.

The enthusiasm with which IIT ‘s and IIM s are being set up and the abysmal lack of enthusiasm for schools and technical institutes speaks of a widespread bias affecting even the ‘Messiahs’ of the downtrodden . and the’ champions ‘of the poor.

But that still leaves unanswered the question—why do we score poorly in the parameters of team work and productivity? Why are the Chinese able to complete a project in a fraction of the time that it takes us to do the same job?

My next book attempts to deal with such issues and I welcome contributions from readers whom I shall duly acknowledge. But here is some good news and some unpleasant news. The management of a multiplex in Chennai trained its unskilled staff in simple things like how to use a deodorant so that when the he usher guides you to your seat you may find that the movie may stink but the usher will not. The usher will also tell you ‘Hope you enjoy the movie sir’.

This is a recent small innovation—one among many that the Satyam Complex can boast of. But why did it tale so long for this small innovation and why has it not been adopted by other cinema halls ?Another pertinent question –what kind of manager initiated these changes that has made the Satyam toilet a place you can take a nap in? The answer - it took an expat CEO to treat unskilled workers
with respect.
K.R.RAVI
U.S.A