Author(s): Anjali Kaware

Abstract:
Skills and knowledge are the driving forces of economic growth and social development of any country. The economy becomes more productive, innovative and competitive through the existence of more skilled human potential. The level of employment, its composition and the growth in employment opportunities are the critical indicator of the process of development in any economy. Increasing pace of globalization and technological changes provide both challenges and growing opportunities for economic expansion and job creation. Handicraft production, based on traditional skills and with low investment requirements, is one of the few possibilities which poor people have to help them increase their income. The focus in the last few years has been to build the capacity of SHGs realizing the fact that these are in a more advantageous position to combine their resources and talents for enabling viable income generating activities, as compared to a lone individual’s efforts. If the current situation is any indication then there are very few job ready workers available in the market. So, it is not only the growing young workforce that needs to be trained with the market savvy skills but also the middle-aged who lack the require competency to move up the ladder of growth. When these individuals are up-skilled in the current economic space their chances of acquiring better employment opportunity increase. A formal assessment of the available skills and required skills in craft traditions help to incorporate the result in the training curriculum which can also form a part of National occupation standards(NOS).The skill gap study would help to improve existing skills, add missing ones and design better support frameworks for future requirement of the skill. From a livelihoods viewpoint, the challenges faced by persons at different strata on the skills ladder differ considerably for the organised and unorganised sector and would call for different interventions which would be kept in mind while working on the skill development plan.