Indien: Post Covid-Strategien verschiedener Sector Skill Councils

Skill development and entrepreneurship promotion in the agriculture sector

"The agriculture sector is seen as the savior in times of crisis," says Dr. Satender Arya, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Agriculture Skill Council of India (ASCI).

India's agricultural sector has shown resilience amid the adversities of COVID-19 induced lockdowns. The COVID-19 crisis has also exposed the vulnerability of India’s agriculture, supply chain, food markets, and availability of labour.

We interacted with Dr. Satender Arya, CEO, Agriculture Skill Council of India (ASCI) to understand the challenges of the agriculture sector, how ASCI has continued skilling amidst the ongoing crisis, the impact of technology, and the need to reskill and upskill the existing workforce among others.

These are few excerpts from our conversation, you can watch the full video interview on our YouTube channel, for which the link is given below.

Question (Q): What is the impact of COVID-19 on the agricultural sector?

Answer (A): The agriculture sector is seen as the savior in times of crisis. A lot of people who returned to their native places have started agriculture. Few of them got engaged in harvesting operations in peri-urban areas. Therefore, COVID-19 did not impact the agriculture sector in terms of labour but it has impacted it in terms of disruption in the supply chain.

During these disruptions, there were instances of fruits and vegetables getting spoiled. However, immediate improvement was seen as fruits and vegetables were being supplied through online platforms.

Harvesting operations have not been impacted much. This can be evidenced by the fact that even without a great improvement in the monsoon season last year, we are expecting a yield of 305 million metric tons. This year, the agriculture sector is expected to contribute around 19.5-19.9 per cent of the entire gross domestic product (GDP).

However, during the pandemic year, there were many reforms in the agriculture sector. These reforms can get the right kind of prices and stability for farmers. There is also going to be a demand for new skill sets in agriculture and other priority areas.

Q: How is ASCI continuing skilling during the pandemic?

A: During the lockdown, training and skilling have become really tough. Our first priority last year was to complete the pending programmes. In an informal sector like ours, we could not completely shift to an online mode of learning.

The blended learning model was a solution for a few, but not for agriculture, as most of the workers were illiterate. There was no internet in rural areas. People could not read when we sent any reading materials. These were some of the challenges while delivering training. So, we delivered training sessions wherever the services and digital equipment were available.

Many sectors including agriculture have developed their own Learning Management Systems and are also sharing their skilling resources with other sectors. Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Indian Council of Agricultural Research have agreed to share their resources with us.

The government was kind enough to extend help to our sector in terms of mandi operations. There is also an expectation of a huge crop in terms of pulses and staples. In the Kharif season, the rain-fed crops will also be benefited. When there is stability and prosperity, people can participate in our skilling programmes at peace.

Due to the pandemic, electronic platforms are getting much more robust. Farmers are now able to sell their produce through digital platforms. So, it is important for farmers to be able to engage with such companies and make them aware of their produce. This is a new skill set we need among the farmers.

e-NAM – National Agricultural Market, is another portal where farmers can sell their produce through electronic means. Safety and hygiene are also a concern during the pandemic.

There is a need to upskill the farmers to help them use the newer methodologies of selling their produce.

Q: Are there any skilling programmes to support entrepreneurship in the agriculture sector?

A: Entrepreneurship cannot be taught separately in agriculture, but the financial literacy component should be a part of every Qualification Pack (QP). Marketing the produce, how to calculate the cost of the produce, etc. should be taught to the farmers, as farmers are running their solo micro-enterprise.

Every farmer is a micro-entrepreneur as they take care of their own crop. We need to sharpen their entrepreneurial skills through the skilling programmes. When it comes to entrepreneurship, there is a question on how people can get better returns, how they can join organisations such as Farmer Producer Organisations (FPO).

The government of India has established around 10,000 FPOs through NABARD. To help farmers aggregate to form FPOs, we have a job role called Group Farming Practitioner.

Q: What do you have to say about the doubling of farmer's income?

A: Doubling the farmer’s income has two components – getting a better price for the produce and reducing the cost of producing. To be able to achieve that, one must not only increase the profitability but also mitigate the risk.

Farmers must have allied sources of income through dairy, poultry, and fishery. Farmers need to change their focus to horticulture for a better profit. Rather than focusing on the staple crop, they have to change to vegetable cultivation and fodder. In traditional areas like Punjab and Haryana, there are skilling programmes on horticulture crops. Only when farmers focus on allied sources of income, doubling their income can become a reality.

Q: How is ASCI promoting apprenticeships?

A: We are making small beginnings in an apprenticeship with a new curriculum on Landscaping, Gardening, and Milk Delivery. Few companies have come forward to take in apprentices for micro-irrigation technicians as well.

For almost 16 job roles, we developed a curriculum from an apprenticeship perspective. In the first year, we had around 47 apprenticeships and in the second year, the number increased to 857. This is a huge growth for the agriculture sector. However, still, a lot of awareness creation is needed from the Sector Skill Council as well as other stakeholders.

We are in discussions with NCML (National Collateral Management Services Limited) for apprenticeships in the agriculture warehousing sector.

Q: How is technology going to be a part of the agriculture curriculum?

A: Agriculture business is going to flourish by using digital technologies, right from sourcing to marketing. We need to keep in mind that, India has small and fragmented landholding. Therefore, the economic viability of the technology and the literacy levels of farmers is very important.

The focus is on using the technology in small chunks. A farmer can be benefitted from good agricultural practices like the real flow of data, low-cost mechanization, GIS mapping, etc. Companies can help farmers improve their farming practices.

There are certain automated techniques that lead to better execution and productivity enhancement. For example, climate can be assessed by Artificial Intelligence.  One can also come up with various kinds of modules for data analytics to re-design the business modules.

Technology is also used for commercial activities like e-auction and e-payments. Farmers can also send a photo of the crop to Kisan Call Centres for advisory.

Technology is not going to take away jobs. But it will address the natural attrition occurring in the agriculture sector. We need to reskill and upskill the farmers, farmworkers and supervisory level people to make the most of technology.

Technology is going to make agriculture appealing to the youth and attract them towards this sector. Youth can also see jobs in agriculture as technology-oriented.

Q: Could you please tell us if there are any in-demand job roles in the agricultural sector?

A: Agriculture has been a supply-led sector and this approach is slowly changing. There is a slight requirement in organic farming and dairy farming, but there is no demand right now. We encourage people to go for new generational job roles. These job roles would need upskilling programmes through certain competencies.

A short-term module called RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) is introduced through bridge training for the safe usage of pesticides and for the use of drones. Therefore, at this point in time, we cannot speak about in-demand job roles in agriculture.

Q: What is the importance of RPL in the agriculture sector skilling?

A: RPL benefits the unorganized sector the most. Apart from leading to income enhancement, the important aspects of RPL in agriculture are:

• RPL gives vocational identity to the agriculture sector
• RPL certification enables access to credit
• The certificate also enables access to market
• RPL helps in recognizing women as an economically productive

Q: How can youth contribute to the rural economy?

A: Retention of youth in agriculture is a common problem across the world. Due to the pandemic, many youth have decided to work in their native places. Government schemes like Aatmanirbhar Bharat, PM Mathsya Sampada Yojana, etc. are also aiming at making urban-rural India self-sufficient. Youth needs to become independent and look out for opportunities in their own place. This will also prevent urban migration.

If a youth becomes a successful entrepreneur from their place, other youth would also want to follow the same path.

Q: What about the capacity building of the trainers in the agriculture sector?

A: For our sector, training of trainers does not depend on the qualification of the trainer but on the experience they have. Experience in fields of the vineyard, gardening, vegetable growing, etc. is what we look at. We are very happy to train and certify them.

ASCI has tie-ups with 50+ agricultural universities where we conduct our training of trainers programme either in residential or online mode.

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How Media and Entertainment industry is beating the COVID-19 blues with skills that matter

"Content consumption has become a big boon during the pandemic for the media industry. Every content consumer has become a content creator," says, Mr. Mohit Soni, Chief Executove Officer (CEO), Media and Entertainment Skills Council (MESC), while talking about the impact of COVID-19 on the Media and Entertainment industry.

India's Media and Entertainment industry has an impressive growth path, despite the pandemic. The industry is expected to grow at a much faster pace than the global average. This ever-expanding industry has immense opportunities for skilled and creative individuals.

We conversed with Mr. Mohit Soni, CEO, Media and Entertainment Skills Council (MESC) to know the impact of COVID-19 on the Media and Entertainment industry, various initiatives of MESC to continue skill training, training candidates for IndiaSkills competitions, preparing youth for in-demand jobs, among others.

These are few excerpts from our conversation. You can watch the full video on the NSN YouTube channel.

Question (Q): What is the impact of COVID-19 on the Media and Entertainment industry?

Answer (A): When I talk about the Entertainment industry in particular, COVID-19 has surely affected some of the sub-sectors. But looking at a wider perspective, content consumption has become a big boon during the pandemic. Every content consumer has become a content creator.

Content has ruled over everything with the introduction of new platforms like 'Over the Top' (OTT), short films, and more. Media and Entertainment is one of the sectors that kept people engaged during difficult times. OTT, gaming, digital filmmaking developed steadily during the pandemic.

Due to COVID-19, there was a high number of vacancies in production houses and animation studios. To address this, we conducted more than 800 virtual job fairs and placed around 10,000 candidates. The demand for jobs in the media sector is increasing day by day and the production houses are supporting to identify and nurture the best talent available right now.

Q: How is MESC continuing the skilling programs and providing rightly skilled people for the organizations to hire?

A: During this period, the industry was in need of skilled people, and training institutes were looking forward to placing the students, and they connected effectively with each other. MESC could bring them closer, by conducting short-term training modules for specific programmes with industry requirements across the network of our training institutions.

Our initiatives like Vidyadaan and Creative Warriors were able to support the entire training ecosystem. We brought the best of experts from India and abroad to deliver training programmes, completely free of cost.

We conducted over 300 training programmes during the pandemic, through which more than two lakh people were benefited.

MESC is also trying to support them in all those areas of the media sector which are in demand like Social Media Optimization (SMO), Gaming, Advertising, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Digital Marketing, and so on.

We are continuously trying to bring the best professionals to train, upskill and groom the students to build their careers in this field.

Q: With an increase in demand for gig jobs and the gig economy, how is MESC making use of blended learning and other kinds of training to cater to the gig workforce?

A: Apart from technology platforms, we have started:

1. Conducting programmes in regional languages like Telugu/Tamil
2. We are focusing on a wider segment to develop someone to be a freelancer, entrepreneur or to build a start-up

MESC has established 11 Centres of Excellence, which we call Centre of Excellence and Creative Entrepreneurship. These work as incubation and innovation facilities for budding entrepreneurs. It helps people understand zero-budget marketing, fundraising, etc.

Various modules with live and recorded sessions are available to keep people engaged until the pandemic is over. We are also starting a platform ideally for budding entrepreneurs. Funding and investment professionals will come on board and see the concepts of different candidates who wish to raise funds for those who are interested in building a start-up and promoting them. This platform also showcases talent and creates jobs for the needy.

Q: During the pandemic what are the plans to keep the candidates engaged and enthused for the upcoming IndiaSkills competitions?

A: MESC has come up with plans like:

1. Starting assessment modules for self-analysis and self-skill check for the candidates who have registered for the IndiaSkills competition
2. Conducting the sessions with national and international experts to help the candidates understand the competition
3. There are a lot of technical sessions providing sample question papers and assessment programmes

We have a network of training centres which have been focusing on training people for this competition as well as significantly working with several states to support them in training the trainers, in identifying the need and analyzing the skillsets of students who are looking forward to upskilling.

The candidates who registered for the competition have been kept engaged, motivated, and upskilled to prepare them to participate even with international participants. We also started a new technology called IDT which is a media sub-sector. MESC is also working on upgrading the candidates and developing a huge pool of trainers and jury members to upgrade themselves as skilled experts.

Q: How do you convey the importance of skilling to the people who are willing to join the Media and Entertainment sector?

A: Media and Entertainment sector does not look for anything apart from skills and creativity. Even a differently-abled person can join this sector. This industry looks forward to the people who have patience, observation skills, willingness to learn as this is a sector that has evolved from a black and white cinema to a virtual cinema, making it a lifeline to the Media and Entertainment sector.

Despite the pandemic, this sector is still alive because of the upgradation with platforms like OTT which can be watched on multiple devices.

Media and Entertainment is one such industry where the candidates have to be self-motivated, self-driven and they should upskill their talent as it is a skill-based industry.

Candidates need to improvise from national to international quality to increase their income. A person who well-knits, connects, and updates oneself will make a significant difference in this industry. MESC will always support them and keep them involved in the industry so that their talent is very well-acknowledged.

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COVID-19 Impact: Skilling in healthcare sector assumes top priority

"Given the magnitude of COVID-19 impact, though we are able to manage with the current workforce, there is a huge need for a skilled workforce in the healthcare industry", says Mr. Ashish Jain, Chief Executove Officer (CEO), Healthcare Sector Skill Council (HSSC).

Healthcare is one of the most stressed industries not only in India but also across the globe. Among several challenges that the healthcare industry is currently facing, the shortage of skilled healthcare workforce and professionals is the most critical one.

There is an urgent need to address the skill gap by investing in reskilling, upskilling, and new skilling of the new entrants, as well as the existing workforce. We conversed with Mr. Ashish Jain, CEO, HSSC to understand the role of HSSC and various initiatives the organization has been taking to address the skill gap in the healthcare sector, challenges, the in-demand job roles in the healthcare sector among others.

These are few excerpts from our conversation. You can watch the full video interview on our YouTube channel.

Question (Q): What is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the healthcare industry?

Answer (A): No other industry could have faced the kind of magnitude we have faced. Though we are able to manage with the current workforce, there is a huge need for a skilled workforce in the healthcare industry.

The doctor-to-patient ratio in our country is currently lower than what the WHO (World Health Organisation) recommends. Multiple studies have also pointed out the same. Despite few challenges, the government has taken several initiatives to increase the number of skilled persons in healthcare, like setting up nursing and medical colleges.

There is another important cadre in healthcare – the healthcare support staff. They take away the burden from the doctors, nurses and devote time to the patients. There is a large need to focus on this cadre of support staff. When we build this cadre of the workforce, we will be able to bridge the skill gap in the healthcare sector. We expect that there will be about 2.6 million support staff required in healthcare by 2030.

Q: What are some of the initiatives HSSC has taken to reskill and upskill the existing workforce in healthcare?

We are in continuous touch with various stakeholders on the ground and with experts in the healthcare system. We are trying to assess the requirement of the staff in the healthcare sector and work on upskilling the workforce.

When it comes to a Training Partner, we are in a continuous dialogue with them and hand-hold them in certain areas. There are a few job roles that become National Skills Qualification Committee (NSQC) cleared job roles. We are working with partners who are offering NSQC approved job roles as well as the ones who are offering courses that are in alignment with the current requirements of the healthcare industry due to COVID-19.

We are also looking at providing online skill training. We are trying to adopt a blended mode of learning where there is an online training and offsite training whenever the situation permits. We are currently focused on building the capacities of the existing workforce through the online mechanism.

As the existing workforce is already trained, they can reskill and upskill themselves through online programmes. This would help them in closely working with doctors and nurses and it would be helpful for them to work in the COVID-care centres.

Q: Are there any other platforms or initiatives for online training, similar to iGOT portal on healthcare?

A: “iGOT” (Integrated Government Online Training) is the platform which is created specifically for healthcare workers by the Government of India to tackle COVID-19 cases and manage the situation.

There are few other platforms for online programmes which are much needed in this current situation. We ran a programme called COVID Warriors to upskill the existing healthcare professionals and help them deal with COVID-19. Most of our partners are also coming up with their own platforms in which they run multiple online courses (both short- and long-term courses) in healthcare.

COVID-19 Impact Skilling in the Healthcare sector assumes top priority

Q: What are top five in-demand job roles in the healthcare during the pandemic?

A: The top five in-demand job roles would be:

1. General Duty Assistant (Advanced)
2. Homecare Aides
3. Emergency Medical Technicians
4. Technicians who can install, repair and maintain medical equipment
5. Phlebotomists

There is an increased demand for home healthcare services, for phlebotomists, who can collect the samples, transport them and store them in labs.

The workforce must be appointed in rural areas too, as there is a fear that rural areas might fall short of the required medical staff and services. These people must be available at public as well as private healthcare centres, both in rural and urban areas.

Q: With the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, how are skilled people made available in the rural areas?

A: We need people at rural sites in the shortest possible time. To get people in a short time, we pick the candidates from their respective districts and train them for deployment in nearby areas.

With this kind of selection, there is no need of traveling from one district to another. Therefore, they can work and provide services effectively in their districts.

The government is also trying to seek demand at district level areas and then align it with training at the district level to make sure the trainers are deployed immediately in these districts, at sub-centers, Public Healthcare Centres, and district hospitals as well.

In terms of technology, we must adopt a blended skill training model in healthcare to train people. This will also have onsite training where certain hands-on skills will be provided on the job. Trainees would then be deployed in hospitals, for a few months.

Q: HSSC being responsible for AYUSH too, are there any steps taken in this direction?

A: AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy) is the mandate that has been added to HSSC. We are interacting with the Ministry of AYUSH on developing requirements for AYUSH.

Especially for COVID-19, we started with an animated video based upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s talk, Mann Ki Baat on how Ayurveda can be utilized for developing immunity and what kind of immunity-boosting measures could be done. The video has been circulated well among the people and became a huge hit.

Under Ayushman Bharat, there is a proposal to set up 1,50,000 health and wellness centres across the country. Out of those 1,50,000 health and wellness centres, 12,500 are dedicated to AYUSH.

We are closely working with the Ministry of AYUSH to develop and supply the skilled workforce for AYUSH health and wellness centres. There is a need to train and develop the workforce for health and wellness centres where people can utilize the services of AYUSH. They can play a key role during the current times.

Q: What is your message to young professionals who are willing to join the healthcare industry?

A: Healthcare is a domain that gives immense personal satisfaction. Seeing a smile on patient’s face after saving their lives gives more satisfaction than receiving a remuneration. All healthcare workers and professionals are highly valued in society.

Technology is appealing to youth as it has brought in Robotic Surgery, Machine Learning, etc. They should look forward to working in the healthcare sector as it involves respect, money and has a technology component to it.