Hi Friends,

Even as I launch this today ( my 80th Birthday ), I realize that there is yet so much to say and do. There is just no time to look back, no time to wonder,"Will anyone read these pages?"

With regards,
Hemen Parekh
27 June 2013

Now as I approach my 90th birthday ( 27 June 2023 ) , I invite you to visit my Digital Avatar ( www.hemenparekh.ai ) – and continue chatting with me , even when I am no more here physically

Sunday, 7 January 2018

Of Interns and Apprentices




Times of India ( 07 Jan ) carries following news report :





“ To  Stay  Lean , Startups  Lean On  Interns “




Extract :


·         According to Internshala, a platform that helps students land internships, around 85% of all organisations registered with it are startups. The platform placed around 1 lakh interns in 2017. More than 46,000 startups have used Internshala to post their requirements since 2010, and the number has been growing every year. In 2013, just over 1,000 startups required interns, a number that crossed 18,000 last year.
 

·         In its early days in 2014, regional content social platform Sharechat only recruited interns. "We were burning around Rs 4 lakh a month. We couldn't afford full-time employees so would rely on interns for everything. That helped us increase our capacities temporarily," says Farid Ahsan, founder of Sharechat. He has a team of more than 50 regular employees now.
 

·         "Every startup is built by interns, including ours. Web application, content and branding, core business development...it was done with their help," he says, giving the example of the first person Internshala hired as an intern. "He now heads corporate relations with 15 people under him." Of Internshala's 70 regular employees in Gurugram, 55 were hired as interns


·         Interns contribute about 5% of the revenue share, according to founder Srikanth Iyer. Though not a huge chunk, it's significant enough to affect the business financials, he says.
 

·         Lenskart too recruits about 50% of the interns hired every year . Lenskart hires around 12 interns a year, including management students from IIMs.

 

·         For students, internships provide a chance to do impactful work while in college, and the freedom to pick up new skills and try new ideas. It gives young people confidence in their abilities as well as helps them decide if they want to be entrepreneurs or pursue more traditional roles.

 

·         Since there is no legal contract binding them to one company, students can hold multiple internships at a time or move from one company to another easily.
 


·         Internshala's Agrawal says the salary of an intern at a startup ranges from Rs 8,000 to Rs 20,000 a month. Bansal is more generous: At Lenskart, interns get up to Rs 75,000 a month. As startups grow, the money doled out increases. "Eight years ago, this figure would have been Rs 5,000," Bansal says. 


==================================



In a “ Dog eat Dog “ economy,“ Profits “ is no more a dirty world . It is the “ Holy Grail “ – without which , nearly 90 % of the Start Ups close down within 5 years !




And , among the various “ means “ to achieve this “ end “, low “ Manpower Costs “ , is an important means .  Hence the growing popularity of “ Internship “ for graduates , as can be seen from the above news report



But , out of some 12 million youth who join the workforce ( - join the ranks of unemployed ? ) , graduates constitute only 3.5 million . Rest 8.5 million are undergraduates or just 10th Standard ( pass or fail )



If the Government can motivate the employers at large ( - and not just Start Ups ) to hire these 8.5 million as “ Apprentices “ , without burdening them with minimum wages , there is a good chance that they will get hired



To know the details of how this can be achieved , read :


======================================================


Skill Capital of the World ?  [ 06  June  2016  ]




======================================================

Universal Basic Income  [  20  Jan  2017  ]


https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2017/01/universal-basic-income.html

 

====================================================

 

Discovering the Obvious ?  [  30  Nov  2017  ]


https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2017/11/discovering-obvious.html

 

====================================================

 

Saving Jobs : Creating Jobs  [  19  Dec  2017  ]


https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2017/12/saving-jobs-creating-jobs.html


================================

 




=======================================================


08  Jan  2018





Saturday, 6 January 2018

Miracle of Self Employment






“ Bed , breakfast and a fat bank balance “





EXTRACT  :


Five kilometres off the NH-27 from Santalpur in Patan lies the village of Bakutra. The arid village, bordering the Little Rann of Kutch, is home to Gauriben Brahman's house, which is thronged by a large number of visitors from across the world, who cut the dusty roads in their SUVs to experience the taste of rural Gujarat.


Listed on Airbnb, one of the biggest aggregators of bed-and breakfast facilities globally, Gauriben's thatched roof house has three small rooms…...



Gauriben,
who never attended school, is an earnest host while welcoming guests….


Gauriben's adherence to the "Atithi devo bhava" credo is made more diligent by fact that while her family earns Rs 45,000 ayear harvesting two crops, she alone earned Rs 55,000 in December.


That was her highest earning; on an average, she has been making Rs 30,000 per month ever since she listed her house on Airbnb in June.


With business steadily rising, Gauriben says she is confident that her three sons will not have to go looking for petty labour jobs anymore.




Gauriben persuaded her sister Shanti to list her house and helped her earn Rs 45,000 last month.




Gauri and Shanti's entrepreneurial success is part of the 'Hum Sab EkHain' experiment initiated by Self-Employed Women's Association (Sewa) with Airbnb in 2017 to allow its rural members to tap into new forms of livelihood opportunities.


In Mehsana, Mayaben, 40, who has studied till class 7, is ecstatic that she earned Rs 80,000 last month.


"Business is pouring in and I rented a neighbouring house to host groups and families," said Maya, a mother of two, who till early last year was struggling to pay the school fees for her two children.



Maya said her daily wager husband, who earns around Rs 5,000 per month, helps in running the business.


"My children are learning hotel management in their own village. They will automatically become successful entrepreneurs," Maya said.


 
================================


I believe NDA government introduced MUDRA ( loans for self employed ) , after reading my following blog :


ITPAYS TO BE AN ENTREPRENEUR  [  30  Jan  2012  ]



Or , it could have been ,

TENMILLION ENTREPRENEURS ?  [  19  Oct  2015  ]


https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2015/10/ten-million-entrepreneurs.html

 

 

Obviously , Gauriben got helped by SEWA / Airbnb , to put to productive / gainful use , her 3 room house ( - an underutilized asset ? )


 

To know how many entrepreneurs can we create by encouraging owners of 4 lakh vacant flats ( in Mumbai Region ) to convert these unutilized assets to productive / profitable ones, read :

 

Readyto be Ridiculed  [  23  Aug  2017  ]


https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2017/08/ready-to-be-ridiculed.html


 

I hope the Policy Makers will tell Shri Arun Jaitleyji to focus on “ Entrepreneurship / Self Employment “ , rather than trying to attempt the impossible of creating millions of jobs in the organized sector , during his Budget Speech on 01 Feb 2018

 

One more thing :

 

Dear Shri Jaitleyji ,

 

Please tell the Income Tax Department :

 

Leave alone Gauriben / Shantiben / Mayaben / Ramilaben ( of my blog of 30 Jan 2012 )

 

I , hereby announce that no Self Employed Entrepreneur need pay any income tax ( personal or corporate ) , since the government plans to enact :

 

A NEWECONOMIC ORDER ? aka " Start Up Act - 2015 "  [ 12  Sept  2015  ]


    https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2015/09/a-new-economic-order.html

 =======================================================

07  Jan  2018

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

 




Friday, 5 January 2018

Threats won’t work




Economic Times ( 03 Jan ) carries following news :





“ Skill Councils Told to Ensure Jobs by Industry “



The government has asked industry to provide jobs to personnel trained in their respective sector skill councils, warning that future fund allocation to the council will be withheld and unutilised money will be taken back if there is no increase in hiring.
 

The push comes ahead of general elections scheduled in 2019, where the slow pace of job creation could be a big issue.


The Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, which funds the sector skill councils through the National Skill Development Corporation, has told them to ensure that their industry partners provide jobs to people who have been trained and that these numbers must be reflected on the smart portal created for the purpose, a person familiar with the matter told ET. 





I am afraid such threats cannot force Industry to hire persons it does not need and hiring will increase their cost


But , if you can make them see some benefit , they will


Benefit such as lowering of  “ manpower cost “ , which in turn , can help them lower “ manufacturing cost “ , which in turn , can make their products / services , internationally “ competitive


I urge the Ministry of Labour and Employment and the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship , to persuade the Cabinet to implement my following suggestion , in order to reduce ( - will not “ eliminate “ ) unemployment :



Skill Capital of the World ?  [ 06  June  2016  ]


Universal Basic Income  [  20  Jan  2017  ]


https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2017/01/universal-basic-income.html

 

Discovering the Obvious ?  [  30  Nov  2017  ]


https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2017/11/discovering-obvious.html

 

Saving Jobs : Creating Jobs  [  19  Dec  2017  ]


https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2017/12/saving-jobs-creating-jobs.html

 

06  Jan  2017

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

 

 






Over-qualified : Under-Skilled : Un-Employable ?




It does not help to be “ Over-qualified



And it is outright detrimental to be “ Under-Skilled “ ( in present case , “ Skill of carrying files “  )



Here is the context ( Source : Indian Express / 05 Jan ) :



“ Look Who Applied for Peon’s Job that went to MLA’s son “



Engineers , Lawyers , Chartered Accountants , MBAs were among 12,453 interviewed for 18 class IV posts at Rajasthan Assembly Secretariat  ( - I guess , selected from possibly 100,000 who applied ?  )



692 interviewed for EACH post  !



To be precise :


·         129………………………   Engineers

·         23…………………………  Lawyers

·         1………………………….   Chartered Accountant

·         393…………………….    Post Graduates

·         1533………………….     Arts  Graduate

·         23………………………   Post Graduates in Science

·         9……………………….    MBA



REASON  ?


For eligibility , Minimum Edu Qualification prescribed, was…………. Studied until Class V



I think it is high time , governments ( State + Central ) , clearly mention in their job advertisements :


Maximum Education Qualification ……….. 10th Standard FAIL ( - in present case , of course ! )


This would save a lot of time / effort / money – and frustration - , both for the Selectors and for the Candidates !



But , bureaucracy never learns !


For  confirmation , read :

 HAVEA DEGREE : WILL SWEEP  [  22  Jan  2016  ]


https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2016/01/have-degree-will-sweep.html

 

=======================================================

 

NOINTERVIEWS FOR B / C / D  ?  [  25  Oct  2015  ]


https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2015/10/no-interviews-for-b-c-d.html

 

06  Jan  2018

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs