Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy tells Sana Shakil that his ministry’s job is not to create employment but make people employable. The BJP leader from Bihar also talks about NDA’s new alliance with JD(U) in the state. Excerpts:
Biggest achievements of the National Skill Development Mission and your ministry?
We’ve created a language for skills, created convergence, which was the ministry’s main mandate. The whole eco system for skill is in place. A universal process of training, qualification, outcome, curriculum, syllabus, assessment is in place. It’s a robust system.
Your ministry has trained 1.17 crore people, but how many of them have got jobs? The PM had promised 1 crore jobs in 2014.
My ministry has to make individuals employable, not give employment. Employability demand is very high. So if we have trained 1.16 crore people, 80-90 lakh of them have got employed or are self-employed.
With huge job losses in sectors such as IT, can the private sector absorb crores of youth?
At the entry level, there is a huge demand for jobs. We require about 40 lakh drivers, about 1 crore people in construction, gardeners, horticulturists. What you are referring to is private sector, organised sector, corporate sector, government. I’m talking about the huge manpower in this country. We’re unable to cope with the demand there. I’m trying to build up capacity.
Union Minister for Transport Nitin Gadkari won’t allow driverless cars in India for the adverse impact it’ll have on the job market. But automation is a reality now.
That’s a reality, but we have backend jobs that have to be done by human beings, and we’re not thinking of that replacement. Maybe a decade later, we’ll think about this. We have immediate problems of employment so, we’ll take it as it comes.
Automation isn’t a big problem?
No. I can’t meet the requirements for jobs in the market. Entry level jobs can’t be substituted. It’s only high-end skilling, high-end specialised qualities which is being automated. I don’t see drivers, gardeners, plumbers, masons, wall painters being replaced.
There were protests after you changed the guidelines of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs).
There were protests because people didn’t want ITIs to be inspected. Three-and-a-half lakh students are enrolled in Uttar Pradesh in ITIs. By those numbers, total business of fees collection was `1,100 crore. Bihar has 1,000-plus and Uttar Pradesh has 2,300 private ITIs. They looked like more of a commercial enterprise. In Rajasthan, the numbers are equally large. They were without equipment, without faculty, without connectivity, without broadband, without students and with ghost students.
Why did the mahagathbandan split?
There was never a mahagathbandan. It was an unnatural partnership and alliance, which crumbled on its own contradictions.
Was allying with BJP Nitish Kumar’s only option to survive?
Those who stay in Bihar feel the pinch of anarchy with Lalu Yadav, and that discredit was jointly shared by Nitish Kumar. Nitish wasn’t prepared to carry it on for a long time. The performance of the NDA government is so overwhelming that any CM would be under stress. So, instead of remaining in conflict, let’s partner. Nitish has taken a good decision.
Who has benefited more from the alliance in Bihar? BJP or JDU?
People of Bihar have benefitted the most. I’m from Bihar. I have been contesting Lalu Yadav for 30 years. There was complete anarchy. There’is a sense of relief in Bihar now.