Plugging the Global Skill Gap

Context: Many people with only high school certificates will begin their jobs in countries like Germany, Japan and Israel. This move is part of the labour mobility agreements which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has crafted.

Historical Examples of Migration

Human migration across centuries has shaped cultures in several parts of the world. 

• Following the discovery of the Americas and Australia in the Age of Exploration, and in the absence of immigration and border controls, people from Europe quickly populated these lands. Thanks to the vast resources available there, Europe was able to escape poverty. 
• Even Imperial China, which was heavily populated in the eastern mainland, expanded westwards to the vast empty lands of the Gobi desert and the Tian Shan mountains and beyond. 

Importance of Migration for India

• Source of Remittances: Permanent migration from India of highly-qualified doctors and engineers is brain drain. Until 2000, most doctors and engineers who eventually settled abroad had studied in highly subsidised institutions funded by Indian taxpayers. Their remittances were large, but dwindled as they settled down permanently in the destination countries. 
• Reduced Share from Developed Countries: Moreover, the total remittances originating from high-income individuals from the US, the UK, Canada and Australia amount to only 32% of the inward remittances to India. 
• Increasing Share from Manual Workers: On the other hand, manual workers in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman contribute 40% of the total remittances to India.

Opportunities for India

Circular migration is a win-win solution, with government-to-government agreements to safeguard the wages and social security of migrant workers in destination countries and their guaranteed return.

• Care Economy: The ageing population in Western Europe and Japan can incentivise the flow of skilled workers and caregivers from the developing world. The ageing demography of the developed world has created the greatest opportunity for India to enhance the quality of life of many Indians in a single generation. 
• Digital Economy: Today, there is a great shortage in Europe and Japan of people who can write algorithms for quantum computers, build infrastructure or work in healthcare. 
• Construction: For example, countries like Israel have a demand for over 100,000 skilled masons, carpenters and construction workers.

Government Initiatives

• Demand Aggregation: The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has aggregated the skill gap demand for many of India’s partner countries. 
• State Level Efforts: The Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (MITRA) worked closely with the NSDC, under the Union Ministry of Skill Development (MSD) and the Maharashtra state departments of Labour and Employment, Skills and Entrepreneurship over the last three months to evolve SOPs and policy norms so that skilled youth could access higher wage markets.
• Skill Upgradation: Though Indian workers may have the requisite skills, they may not be able to demonstrate them in the pre-defined manner with the use of specific tools. Hence, they need booster training. The NSDC has developed a four-day course on Recognition of  Prior Learning (RPL) to upgrade the existing skills.
• Setting up Training Facilities: The challenge of setting up testing facilities exactly as per the protocol prescribed by Israel was taken up by ITI Pune. Experts at the ITI fabricated the 12 bar bending testing machines which matched the Israeli requirements.
• Language Training: The state government has also decided to provide them the opportunity to learn Japanese, German or French.

Conclusion

• Circular migration agreements warrant that these workers will come back to India after a certain time abroad. But they will bring back enhanced experience of working with sophisticated construction machinery and advanced management protocols, which will benefit the Indian construction industry.
• India should position itself to become the global source of human capital. Circular migration will ensure that the movement takes place at scale and that India also gains from the experience of returning workers.