18 IIM Ranchi Fellows set to join government corporation

CHENNAI: The pay packet on offer is not irresistible, nor is there any fancy post or even job guarantee beyond the short tenure of just a year. But having cut their teeth in public service for two years, 18 from the Indian Institute of Management-Ranchi, who were part of a central fellowship programme, are now all set to join the Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation (TNSDC) as district programme managers on November 1.

They are part of 33 fellows from IIM-Ranchi, who have been working in districts across the State as part of the Union Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Ministry’s two-year fellowship programme, under the mentorship of respective district Collectors.

After working with them, the TNSDC decided to hire them as district programme managers (DPM), said officials. They were hired after an in-person interview with officials from the Directorate of Technical Education (DoTE), Directorate of Employment and Training (DET) and TNSDC. They will work on a one-year contract with a salary of Rs 80,000 per month.

“After 11 DPMs were hired through an open interview last year, we decided to hire Fellows from IIM, observing their work in respective districts,” said J Innocent Divya, managing director, TNSDC. “We are likely to hire more managers in future, as we have already hired 29 DPMs in two rounds of interviews so far.”

They are likely to be allotted the same district where they completed their fellowship programme. As programme managers, their role will be to coordinate all skill development efforts in the districts, such as working on Naan Mudhalvan, monitoring the training activities for unemployed persons, engaging in skill gap study, and coordinating with industries among others.

Speaking to DT Next, Om Prakash, who is set to join TNSDC, said, “Working for two years in a district, especially with vulnerable groups and unorganised workers, was a learning experience. I am looking forward to engaging in more skill-oriented initiatives in the allotted district.”

Divya added, “The goal is to create TNSDC’s own district vertical and have department staff manage the skill domain in an independent manner. As part of this, we have created one programme manager and management information system (MIS) assistant post in each district. We will possibly be able to expand this network, too.”

JOLLY GOOD FELLOWS CHANGING LIVES

For the past two years, from November 2021, 33 Fellows from the Indian Institute of Management Ranchi (IIM-Ranchi) have been exploring the skill ecosystem in various districts of Tamil Nadu.

These Fellows, who were groomed to study, stabilise and survey the skill culture of people in both remote and urban regions of the State, had wrapped up their public policy Fellowship programme referred to as Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF) on October 20.

The project for the Fellowship called Skill and Knowledge Acquisition for Livelihood Promotion (Sankalp) under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) was launched in January 2018. With World Bank funding, Sankalp is tenured till March 2023. However, sources say, the discussion for renewing the scheme is likely.

For the Fellowship, 60 Fellows were placed in various districts of India in phase I, followed by over 660 more in phase II. The institute had trained the Fellows from TN and Jharkhand to improve the skill development and entrepreneurship domain, and also for the Fellows to play the role of a catalyst in the sector.

As the Fellows have completed the Fellowship recently, they will be awarded with a ‘Certificate in Public Policy and Management’ by IIM-Ranchi. During their two-year Fellowship in TN, they were monitored by the respective district collector, who is also the chair of the district skill committee (DSC). Meanwhile, they were also paid a stipend of Rs 50,000 in the first year and Rs 60,000 in second year.

Under the MGNF, the Fellows had worked on subjects such as administration and policy, skill development, management, governance and systems, finances and research. Their role varied from strengthening DSC, writing proposals to acquire funding, skill assessment and gap analysis, identification of star alumni and inspection of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) centres among others.

SARIS, CLAY TOYS IN MADURAI

A Swetha in Madurai had been vital in boosting the workforce for manufacturing Sungudi saris in the district, by submitting a proposal to train 60 new workers under Sankalp to Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation (TNSDC).

Besides this, Swetha had also worked with manufacturers of Vilachery clay toys. Interestingly, both Sungudi saris and Vilachery clay toys are expected for the Geographical Indication (GI) tag in the near future.

“We found that there was only one Saurashtrian family in Madurai making Sungudi saris with the hand-knots method. So, to boost manpower and production, we sent a proposal to train 60 people in two batches to TNSDC. As a result, one batch of 30 people are undergoing training and the job offers are ready,” smiled Swetha, who also explained that there was less workforce to make Vilachery clay toys in Madurai, which was exclusive to the village and was exported abroad. “As per the proposal to TNSDC, 25 workers in the first batch are being trained to make these toys, under the initiative of Small Industries of Product Promotion Organisation (SIPPO).”

Besides this, the Fellow had also coordinated with Madurai Central Prison regarding works like baking, carpentry and welding done by prisoners. “To formalise this, we provided training to prisoners through a third party, which will be certified too,” she averred.

VALUE-ADDITION IN NAGAPATTINAM

In Nagapattinam, R Subramanian had worked extensively on fish value-addition programmes, soft skill training for government college students and various trans gender empowerment programmes.

“As per the suggestion, skill training on seafood processing has been initiated for fisherwomen in Nagapattinam to enable them to make a livelihood by engaging them in a work that’s of their interest. The suggestion was accepted by TNSDC and Rs 2.6 lakh was sanctioned for the programme,” said Subramanian.

Through the skill training, the fisherwomen were taught to make at least 15 by-products from fresh fish and sell them. Training included soft skills, marketing skills and an exposure visit to an incubation centre run by the Fisheries University for a batch of 25 women.

In the case of transpersons, various steps have been taken by the Fellow, along with the help of the district collectorate.

“Trans women are given counselling on self-awareness, emotional management and for overcoming societal stigma. They were also given an overview of entrepreneurship opportunities in food processing, cosmetology and aesthetics, textile and fashion designing,” he added.

Besides this, through other initiatives, transpersons have been encouraged to continue education, apply loans to set up businesses, start SHGs and become aware of changing their names as per their trans identity in government documents.

SENSITISATION FOR SCHOOL KIDS IN KALLAKURICHI

A Sujatha in Kallakurichi had extensively worked on various initiatives during her two-year stint in the district.

Her work varied from career guidance and sensitisation for school students, life skills training for adolescent students and government college students, livelihood improvement for wood carving artisans and promotion of millet cultivation.

“As part of sensitisation for school students, my work has been on creating awareness about child marriage, physical abuse, life skills especially among children in Kalvarayan Hills, which has high number of child marriages, as per the data,” said the Fellow. “Considering millet crop production being popular in northern districts, including Kallakurichi, I made a suggestion to the district collector – include millet-based diet in Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) with goals like promoting climate-resilient crops, tackling malnutrition and employment generation for Self Help Groups (SHGs).”

The Kallakurichi collector initiated a pilot farm under the ICDS department with MGNREGA workers. The harvested grains will be processed by the local SHGs.

SKILL PORTAL IN KANCHI

In Kancheepuram district, M Swetha had worked closely for the initial implementation of the Naan Mudhalavan scheme.

“Along with the district collectorate, I also worked on launching the ‘Kanchi Skill’ portal for students to familiarise them with different types of skill sets, training and job opportunities available with it,” pointed out Swetha.

Additionally, the Fellow had worked in enabling women entrepreneurship, especially those in rural villages and in collaborating a district-wide skill study with various industries and MSMEs.