Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 2013, publiée 103ème session CIT (2014)

Convention (n° 142) sur la mise en valeur des ressources humaines, 1975 - Inde (Ratification: 2009)

Article 1 of the Convention. Formulation and implementation of education and training policies. The Committee notes the Government’s report received in August 2013 containing detailed information and statistical data in connection with its previous comments. It notes that around 5.5 million people were trained by the various central ministries in the year 2012–13 and that the Government hopes that skill development will cover around 7 million people in 2013–14. The Government indicates that it has requested the Indian Bank Association to launch a new scheme for providing credit to candidates willing to take up skill development/vocational courses. The Committee welcomes the Government’s initiative to set up a credit guarantee fund to encourage banks to provide credit under the abovementioned scheme. The Committee understands from the Government’s report that for the effective coordination of education and training policies, coordination committees have been established at the state and district levels. The Committee also notes that a “National Skill Development Agency” has been constituted in 2013 to coordinate efforts of various central ministries and States Skill Missions and that a “Cabinet Committee on Skill Development” has been established under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister to consider and approve various proposals related to skill development. The Committee invites the Government to provide in its next report information on activities and policies led by the National Skill Development Agency. Please also continue to provide disaggregated statistics regarding the impact of the measures implemented in terms of promoting skills development, in particular through public employment services. Please provide information on the results obtained following the assistance and advice received from the ILO (Part V of the report form).

Article 1(5). Equal opportunities. The Committee notes that measures are being implemented with a strong focus on the disadvantaged groups of society, like scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, minorities, people living on borders and pockets affected by an adverse law and order situation. The Government further indicates that is has decided to use 5 or 10 per cent of funds allocated to programmes such as the “Border Area Development Program” and the “Minority Sector Development Program” on skills development. Moreover, the Committee takes note of the fact that industry has been actively involved in efforts to improve the contents of various modules under the Skill Development Initiative Scheme and that new modules have been developed under the scheme in the last few months. The Committee invites the Government to include up-to-date information on the results of the measures implemented to encourage women, minorities, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, and those working in the informal economy to develop and use their vocational skills, including through flagship programmes such as the Modular Employable Skills (MES) Scheme under the Skills Development Initiative (SDI), the Standard Training Assessment and Reward (STAR) scheme and the rural and urban livelihoods missions. Please also supply any available evaluation reports on these programmes.

Article 2. Education, training and lifelong learning. The Government indicates that it has decided to come up with a “National Skill Development Qualification Framework” that offers vertical mobility of people having required skills. The responsibility of developing the framework has been entrusted to the National Skill Development Agency. The Government also indicates that State Skill Missions have been activated and that in several states like Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, substantial funds are being spent by the state government in skill development programmes. Finally, the Committee notes that the Government is increasing synergy among central ministries and many ministries like Women and Child Development and Minority Affairs. The Committee invites the Government to describe the achievements of the National Skills Development Agency and other key institutions at both national and state levels to enable an open and flexible system of general, technical and vocational education, educational and vocational guidance, as well as vocational training. Please also provide further information on the efforts to develop a national technical and vocational education, vocational training and skills system that aims to ensure coordination and integrated planning between key ministries that provide training such as the Ministries of Human Resource Development, Labour and Employment, the Ministry of Rural Development and the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Industries.

Article 3(1). Vocational guidance information. In its report, the Government highlights that under the national vocational guidance programme, assistance is provided to all persons without discrimination and that information about job opportunities and training facilities is available to all different target groups and disseminated without any discrimination. The Committee notes that vocational guidance information is disseminated in person through career talks delivered by vocational guidance officers at schools and colleges and in writing through bulletins, pamphlets, posters and charts brought out by the Vocational Guidance Unit and University Employment Information and Guidance Bureaux. The Committee also notes that all the policies and programmes are promotional, free and voluntary. The Committee invites the Government to provide updated information on the scope and impact of the measures taken to provide comprehensive information and the broadest possible guidance, particularly to children, young persons and adults, including appropriate programmes for persons with disabilities.

Article 3(2) and (3). Information on vocational guidance measures. The Committee notes that efforts are being made to modernize the National Employment Service and to expand its coverage to cover apprenticeships, internships and part-time jobs. The Committee further notes that efforts are also being made to simplify registration and open user-friendly and technology-based channels to allow youth, as well as employers’ access to the data in a much more convenient way. The Committee invites the Government to describe and supply copies of the information made available for vocational guidance and to provide information on activities related to vocational guidance taken by main line ministries and agencies such as the National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC).

Article 4. Vocational training and lifelong learning. The Committee welcomes the Government’s decision to open a good number of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in serviced blocks under public–private partnership mode. The Government indicates that quality of infrastructure and services are being improved in 400 ITIs under the World Bank assisted Vocational Training Improvement Project (VTIP) and that guidelines are being amended to ensure better utilization of funds made available to the Institute Management Committees on setting up an institute for training of trainers in public–private partnership mode. The Committee invites the Government to provide information on the impact of the measures adopted by the ITIs, as well as an evaluation of the Vocational Training Improvement Project implemented with the assistance of the World Bank, with a view to meet the needs for vocational training throughout life of both young persons and adults in all sectors of the economy and branches of economic activity and at all levels of skill and responsibility.

Article 5. Cooperation of employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee takes note of the Government’s indication that it continues to engage with social partners in an effort to ensure that maximum benefits can be achieved in terms of skill development and on-the-job training and employment. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the impact that the cooperation of the social partners and other interested bodies had on the formulation and implementation of vocational guidance and vocational training policies and programmes, including through key policy bodies such as the National Council for Vocational Training and the developing network of industry sector skills councils.

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2016.]