Skill development Initiatives for Unorganized workers in Construction sector

Due to Industrialization and more growth in the Infrastructure and Building sector it has been observed that the Indian workforce is migrating from the agriculture sector to the industry-and-services sectors. India has one of the youngest populations in the world, a trend that is expected to continue until 2040. However, India's labour productivity is much lower than that of other Asian economies. To get the highest Productivity the sector requires up-skilling of the labour force in order to ensure the country’s inclusive economic growth. Skill development has emerged as a national priority and a number of skill-training initiatives have been undertaken over the last Five years. Skill development is necessary to upgrade the workers and increase their efficiency which ultimately will increase the productivity of the Industries as well as the Nation.Unorganised workers are to a greater extent in the construction Sector. This sector is the second largest growth sector after Agriculture. Thus, the unorganized workers need to be targeted for the skill development which will maximize their efficiency and will improve their standard of living and will help in the economic growth of the nation. Government and Private bodies have initiated several skill development programmes for the unorganized workers. This paper describes few of these Initiatives to understand the mechanisms as well as some limitations and shortfall of such skill development programmes.


Introduction
Construction is a booming Industry in India. This higher-productivity sector requires up-skilling of the labour force. The labour productivity of India has seen steady growth since 2002. However, it continues to be significantly lower than that of other Asian economies such as China, Japan and Singapore. The construction sector of India is the second largest economic activity after agriculture and provides employment to about 33 million people. About 250 ancillary industries like cement, steel, brick, timber etc. are dependent on the construction industry. India's Construction industry has grown at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of about 11.1% over the last eight years on the back of massive infrastructure investment and rapid rise in housing demand. With the onset of foreign direct investment in real estate development, the share of total investment in infrastructure has increased from 5.7% to 8% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and in 2011 the industry was valued at US$403.4 billion. Relatively, there has been a high demand from the consumer side to get housing projects done on time, in fact even before time.
With rapid infrastructure growth, the construction sector has become a safer bet for informal workers, regardless of their occupational training. There has seen a shift in jobs from the formal to the informal and this has mainly happened in the construction industry (Chakravarthy, 2012), and has led to 83% of unskilled labor migrating between different part time occupations. The imperative for economic growth, combined with the distinct demographic advantage and concerns over the social consequences for its large young population, have led the GOI to invest heavily in skills development and pursue new models to increase participation and improve the quality and relevance of education and training. These initiatives have led to increased investment by many government agencies and an expansion of the number of available seats in vocational training and skill development programs. Other priorities include strengthening employment services, expanding skills assessment and certification and the recognition of prior learning (RPL). Labours migrate from rural area to urban area when agricultural activities do not exist. These labours work as unorganized workers in the construction Industries also. Hence, these workers too need to be trained so that these seasonal workers work efficiently and they can demand for good pay scale.
(Report of the Working group on Construction for the 11th Five year plan, Planning Commission of India; PP: 22) Informal, unskilled workers form a major part of the labor force in Construction. In this context, social assistance provided for workers by the government of India has particularly focused on preventing exploitative conditions at the worksite. It is directed towards skills, wages, and productivity nexus to uplift livelihood of workers. Hence, there is a need to understand how employers structure welfare through skill up gradation; and how the worker locates himself amongst the organizational, institutional and monetary choices, within a geographical region. Types of skill acquisition and development become primary intervention tools for safeguarding livelihood generation and welfare of a construction worker. India has one of the youngest populations in the world. The proportion of the workforce in the working age group is well in excess of those dependent on them, a trend that is expected to continue until 2040. The benefits of a large labour force can be leveraged to accelerate economic growth through skill development, thereby creating a demographic dividend. Skill development has, therefore, emerged as a national priority. Under the Coordinated Action Plan for Skill Development (2008), the Indian Government established a three-tier institutional structure consisting of the Prime Minister's National Council on Skill Development, the National Skill Development Board and the National Skill Development Council, in order to bridge the existing skill gap. In this context, this paper explores the Skill Development initiative for the unorganized workers in construction, in bridging the skill gap and the opportunities that have emerged for this sector to better their livelihood.

Research
Descriptive Research. Objective ➢ Study the Skill development Initiatives of Government and Private sector for unorganized workers in construction ➢ To analyze the limitations of these Initiatives

Literature Review:-
The construction industry is the most labour-intensive sector. It also displays the highest level of informal employment, in the form of part-time or contract labour. The level of formalization in a specific subsector displays a strong positive correlation with the level of skill required for performing tasks within that subsector. Sectors requiring a higher degree of skill have a higher proportion of formal employment, as opposed to sectors that employ a high proportion of unskilled or semi-skilled labour.
(As per Source: National Sample Survey Organization) By 2022, the demand for skilled labour is expected to increase significantly. The highest incremental labour demand is expected to be generated in the construction, automobile, textiles and transportation subsectors. Organized retail is also expected to grow rapidly. Together, these subsectors are expected to generate demand for over 282 million skilled workers by 2022. Construction sector second largest in unorganized sector requires to be concentrated for the skill development programmes. Primary research indicates that skill gaps exist in these sectors, suggesting that the total demand for skilled labour may be even higher than the incremental demand. With the changing economic environment, the demand for better-quality products and services has given rise to huge demand for skilled labour. According to the Eleventh Five Year Plan, only 10% of the Indian workforce has formal skill training in the form of higher education, technical or vocational training.
(Source: Planning Commission, Government of India) The unavailability of appropriately skilled labour lengthens the job matching process, with candidates facing difficulties in finding jobs that match their skill-set and with employers struggling to find workers with suitable skills. According to the International Labour Organization, the difficulty to fill up jobs in India is 48%, far higher than the global average of 34%. The problem is particularly acute for small and medium sized firms: since they require fewer employees, it is expensive for them to invest heavily in recruitment processes, and it is not feasible for them to set up captive skill-training institutes. In the shortrun, this skill gap leads to loss of productivity. In the long-run, this demand-supply gap may not adversely affect economic growth. However, should the low availability of skilled labour persist, employers are likely to substitute labour with technology by automating processes. Hence, the lack of skill development will prevent inclusive growth for the economy in the long-run.
According to the Government of India estimates, 93% of workforce is employed in the unorganized or informal sector, which is not supported by a structured skill development system. Workers in this sector are often skilled informally or on-the-job. The information channels and skilling processes in the unorganized sector are not understood. This creates difficulties in targeting this section of the population for skill development. Furthermore, the opportunity cost of skilling, in the form of loss of employment and wages for the duration of the skill training programme, also acts as a disincentive to skill acquisition.

Paper Description and conclusion
The construction industry has a highly complex structure and complex mode of operation because of the following processes involved. ▪ The construction industry has strong forward and backward linkages with other sectors such as cement, steel and other construction materials manufacturing industries. ▪ The workforce of the sector is unorganized to a greater extent. ▪ Contracting and sub-contracting is the growing trend in this sector. Though legal contracts are more evident in larger construction companies, they tend to be limited to the higher end of the value chain. The work that they get is only through verbal dealings and the payment transactions are only cash transactions. ▪ Most workers are unaware about the direct and indirect employers for whom they are working. They are more concerned only with the contractors or subcontractors who recruit them and information pertaining to their employment is dependent on the labour contractor who hires them. ▪ Masons, tile layers and other semi-skilled and skilled professionals are constantly mobile and move from one employer to another or from one contractor to another. Absence of employee loyalty is the major factor seen on the sites. ▪ Though the sector is driven by technical skills, most of the workforce lacks soft and managerial skills which are the major limitations to their social and economic mobility.
The skill development environment in India is complex, and stakeholders face several challenges. The public sector has dominated the vocational training landscape in India. However, the private sector's participation and prominence in the skill development space has been growing over time, particularly in training for the services sector. In addition, a large number of non-profit organizations are engaged in providing skill training to enhance employability among the vulnerable sections of society.
Vocational training is a Concurrent subject under the Indian Constitution, and the responsibility is shared by the central and state governments. Public sector training infrastructure is coordinated at the Centre by the Directorate General of Employment and Training (DGET) under the Ministry of Labour. In each state, the Department of Employment and Training coordinates and implements state-level training initiatives. Training infrastructure takes the form of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and Industrial Training Centre's (ITCs), which are privately operated. There are approximately 9,400 ITIs and ITCs in India with a combined capacity to train 1.3 million people. The course duration varies from a few weeks to three years. The courses also vary in complexity from basic skills to specialized courses.
ITIs/ITCs suffer from a number of limitations. Outdated curriculum and equipment often lead to the students being required to re-learn the skills at their work-sites. Primary research suggests that many employers treat ITI graduates at par with those who have completed Class 10 in terms of wages, which serves as a disincentive to invest time in acquiring skills. The evaluation framework adopted by ITIs does not provide a competency-based certification, making it difficult for employers to interpret the level of skill acquisition through such courses. Additionally, the dropout rate in these institutes is quite high, despite a number of incentives that are provided to the students who enroll in these institutes. One of the causes for the high dropout rate is weak basic education, which makes it difficult for students to grasp basic concepts at such institutes.
Until quite recently, vocational education and blue-collar jobs were associated with a low level of dignity. India's youth continues to display a strong preference for white-collar jobs, creating difficulties in student mobilization for skill training programmes. Skill development is yet to gain acceptance as a viable alternative to formal education. Furthermore, the lack of horizontal mobility between formal and vocational education acts as a deterrent to enrolling in vocational education. There are other socioeconomic constraints to skilling, such as the reluctance to allow women to participate in skill training programmes, particularly in rural and backward regions; lack of awareness about skill development and industry requirements; and the unwillingness to migrate to other areas for work. The existing training infrastructure (public and private) in the country is inadequate to meet the expected industrial demand for skilled labour. Additionally, the low relevance of the curriculum and the unavailability of quality-trainers limit the value addition from these courses. Qualitative gaps lead to people being employed in sectors that are unrelated to their educational attainment, indicating a mismatch between the skills required for performing jobs and the training imparted. Weak linkages between skill training institutes and industries, manifest in low placements, mean that there is no clear perception of improvement in employability through skill development.
The distribution of skilling capacity across the country is uneven, influenced by regional characteristics, market forces and the respective state government's emphasis on skill development. The more industrialized states have a higher number of vocational training institutions. The existing capacity is marked by high variability in the quality of training imparted.
In order to integrate the formal and vocational education streams, the Ministry of Human Resource Development has established the National Vocational Education Qualification Framework (NVEQF), which is expected to cater to 5 million students for vocational degrees/diplomas each year. It is to be implemented in polytechnics, engineering colleges and other colleges in the university system from 2012-13. The NVEQF establishes seven certificate levels, with each level covering 1,000 hours of competencybased vocational training modules integrated with general learning. On completion of level 5, a vocational education diploma may be obtained; and on completion of level 7, a vocational education degree will be awarded. This is expected to make it possible for students to transition between vocational and formal education.
In 2005-06, the DGET initiated a scheme to upgrade 500 ITIs into Centre's of Excellence. While this improved the quality of training-infrastructure to some extent, the low relevance of the curriculum continued to be a problem. In 2007-08, the DGET initiated a scheme to upgrade the 1,396 ITIs on the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode to ensure greater relevance of curriculum and pedagogy to industrial needs through the involvement of an industry partner. However, due to non-clarity of the incentive mechanisms for the private partner, these schemes have met with only a partial success. The low level of skilling in India presents a huge unrealized workforce-potential. Unskilled workers remain unemployed, undertake menial jobs and live in poverty, or enter the labour market and undergo informal or on-the-job training. There is a significant wage-gap between skilled and unskilled workers in India. The wages earned by highly skilled workers are over higher than those earned by unskilled workers. Skill development can help a worker to match transition from the informal economy to the formal economy and expand the set of employment opportunities available to him through up-skilling.

Existing Skill Development Initiatives
The need for a well-defined skill development framework, with clear demarcation of responsibilities for achieving specific targets, has been recognized by the Government of India. In recent years, skill development has emerged as a national priority. The Eleventh Five Year Plan favoured the formation of Skill Development Missions at the state and national levels in order to coordinate and monitor skill development efforts in the respective regions. There are below councils and bodies formed to implement the Skill Development Initiatives for the workers in construction sector.

Prime Minister's National Council on Skill Development
The The Council has set a target of skilling 500 million people by 2022, with an emphasis on inclusivity of training, fungible skills, conversion of knowledge and skills into degrees and diplomas through testing and certification, multiple modes of training-delivery, utilization of existing infrastructure and state-level coordination of programmes. government control in funding, management and delivery, as is the case with Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), to private skill training institutes. Training providers have adopted a variety of approaches to overcome existing issues in skill development.

National Skill Development Coordination
ITIs have attempted to address the opportunity cost associated with training, in the form of loss of employment and wages, by providing a stipend for the duration of training, along with other incentives such as uniforms, laptops and bicycles for specific courses and areas. Under the Modular Employability Scheme, special courses offering multiple skills have been initiated at ITIs. Certification of informallyacquired skills has been made possible by allowing people to become certified by taking examinations at ITIs. However, the qualitative and quantitative shortfall in training continues to persist. NSDC has attempted to ensure the relevance of training imparted by its partnersby setting a target of at least 70% placement among students who complete the training programme. NSDC has also initiated media campaigns at the national level to improve the dignity of labour. The SSCs are attempting to standardize the training imparted by different players in each industry. Typically, successful skill training initiatives in rural areas have strong community outreach and an orientation towards livelihood-skills training, which has helped mobilize students for the training programmes. To overcome the shortage of skilled labour, large firms have set up captive training Centre's to skill their employees. However, such a model is not feasible for smaller industries. Some private players have tried to mobilize students through direct interactions, such as presentations and seminars at schools. In the urban areas, a large number of private skill training providers focus on the service sector and try to mobilize students through improved placement statistics. A critical factor that determines the success of a skill training institute is its industry linkages, which help build better placement records, creating the perception of higher employability. Since skill development is yet to gain acceptance as a viable alternative to formal education in the Indian market, demand creation can be achieved by positioning skill development as an avenue for better employment opportunities. In the absence of verifiability of this claim through good placements, student mobilization is likely to be challenging. Vocational training imparted through Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and Industrial Training Centre's (ITCs) is regulated by the Directorate General of Employment and Training at the Centre and the Departments of Training at the state-level. However, the private players in the Indian skill development space continue to remain largely unregulated. The regulatory mechanism is expected to become more structured in the medium to long-term.
There are very few entry barriers to the Indian skill sector. 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is permitted in this sector. Unlike in the case of education, skill development institutes are allowed to be set up as for-profit ventures. However, easy-entry and the lack of accreditation systems make it difficult for new players to establish themselves, since there is no signal for students to segregate strong players from weak ones. Therefore, there is need for new players to enhance their value proposition to position themselves competitively in the market. A large proportion of the skill training infrastructure in the country is comprised of government institutes. This leads to market distortion due to under-utilization of existing skill capacity and price discovery problems. In spite of this, private players and employers have begun to establish a strong presence through domain-based initiatives and differentiated products and services. There is a growing market for skills in India, especially for service sectors such as IT, BFSI, telecommunications, hospitality, retail and construction. Successful skill development initiatives have been implemented through the use of high-volume-low-margin models. Lean business models, combined with an enhanced value-proposition, are likely to help establish a competitive advantage.
Initiatives by Private sector Skills training in the private sector include some company run training centers by Larsen & Turbo etc.; trade union organizations like SEWA; and nonprofits like Labor Net and KUSHAL.
Following are some examples of these.
• SEWA SEWA (Self Employed Women's Association) is based in Gujarat, a province in western India. SEWA has been one of the first enterprises in India to take account for women workers to sustain their livelihoods independently through capacity building. Its sister organizations are involved in leadership, technical and other training programs for women. As a part of SEWA, Mahila housing SEWA trust (MHT) for established in 1994 with the objective to improve housing and infrastructure conditions of poor women in the informal sector. One of these training programs focuses on construction work. As a part of MHT, SEWA has established KARMIKA, a school for training women workers in construction based skills like brick masonry laying, plumbing, low cost and alternative construction methods etc. It is also involved in providing basic functional literacy for workers (Mahila Housing SEWA Trust, 2009). At the end of training it provides certificates for women for them to apply for skilled jobs in labor markets.
• Labor Net Labor Net was founded in 2006 as an extension of the 'Movement for Alternatives for Youth Awareness'. It is a social enterprise focused on providing training for informal construction workers through financial inclusion, social protection and welfare services. It provides certification for training and has forged a partnership with National Skills Development Corporation. Its focus has majorly been school dropouts and unemployed working poor. Training is provided through 'livelihood centers', which also provide services for social protection like provident fund, banking etc. and counseling for the workers.
• •Kushal: -Kushal is a partnership project between CREDAI Pune Metro and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). This programme was conceived to improve the skills of the construction workforce in India. To put it simply, the aim of this programme is to upgrade the skills of 100000 construction workers in the next 10 years' time period. Launched in June 2011, this programme has been a pioneer in creating a unique on the job skill training programme for the construction workers. Kushal is changing the face of training and skill building for construction workers in India. In less than 2 years Kushal has developed a unique and successful model that helps construction workers to learn while they earn. The absence of proper training programmes has kept the construction worker from progressing in this field and the lack of defined career path has thwarted his aspirations. The Kushal training programme help construction workers to learn technical skills faster and that in turn help them progress faster, increasing their income level at the same time. This programme has done excellent work for the construction industry. The construction workers have earned skills that have helped them progress faster and earn better. Contractors who have a skilled workforce can produce more with less. Developers now have construction sites where wastage is minimal, construction quality is high and customers are content. It has been seen that Kushal caters only the Developer sector which needs to be extended to other sectors of construction also. Within a short span of time Kushal has received wide acclaim. This program has already received prestigious national as well as international recognition.

Special Reports
The special Projects component of PMKVY envisages creation of a platform that will facilitate trainings in special areas and /or premises of Government bodies, corporate or industry bodies, and training in special job roles not defined under the available Qualification Packs. (QPs) National Occupational Standards (NOS).Special Projects require some deviation from the short term training guidelines under PMKVY for any stakeholder. A proposing stakeholder can be institutions of Central or State Government(s) autonomous body/statutory body or any other equivalent body or corporate who desires to provide training to candidates.

Conclusion -
Thus, it is seen that for the Unorganized workers government and private sector has started their skill development initiatives but yet they have not approached maximum workers wherein small scale businesses are considered. The Workers as well as the contractors are unaware of these initiatives as it is seen from the data that it is not mandatory for the Industries to encourage Skill development for this sector. If these skill development Initiatives are catered to the best maximum workers and contractors and Industries it will be beneficial for the nation. The government Initiatives is seen to be taken wherein fees are taken from the students but in practicality from the lower income workers or students falling under that category fee waiver needs to be done. On job training with a fixed stipend is a good initiative but the registration and formal procedures need to be done by the Contractors or the Industry. Further studies need to be done to find whether these initiatives of Government reach the workers .It has to be made mandatory for the Construction Industries and all related companies to follow the guidelines for the skill development of the Unorganized workers. Certification procedures and training Centre's must be given to the private partners to facilitate smooth running of these programs. Maximum Inspectors for auditing these procedures need to be recruited by the Government. Every District must have Skill development Centre's and this should be partnered with private organizations. Kushal is doing its activity best but it is limited only to the developer stream it should be also enhanced to the other sectors and Industries. Maximum education needs to be done regarding these programmes to cater maximum unorganized workers. Just like L&T, other related Industries must start up such Skill development programmes for the unorganized workers in construction as a CSR activity. Under the Skill development Initiatives there are Training programs conducted which help in the skill improvement of the construction workers. Similarly, there are financial assistance also provided under the Skill development initiatives. Such as, Provident Fund, Workmen's compensation act, BOCW act, Funeral charges, education for the children. The worker need to be aware about these initiatives so that they can be benefitted. Government Skill Development Initiatives consist of the statutory compliances which are necessary for the workers. Necessary documents are required for them to comply under these benefits of programs.