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

Wednesday, 3 April 2019

Thank You , Prakashbhai ( Javadekarji ) ,




What for  ?
For Starting from 01 July 2019 , the biggest skilling ( internship ) program called “ Shreyas



What will this program achieve ?
#    Some 3 lakh students will get apprenticeship for 6 months from July 2019

#    In the first full year, some 5 lakh students will get this training




What kind of students are eligible ?
Non technical graduates ( BA / B Com / B Sc )



How many have applied ?
Over 9.25 lakh students from 1,533 non-technical universities / colleges have applied by 25 march



Will the trainees ( apprentices )  get any stipend ?
Sure . They will get,

#     Rs  6,000  per month by way of stipend, and


#     Rs  1,500  per month from the Centre by way of reimbursement



How many Employers have shown interest in training the students ?
As of now, more than 9,000 employers have posted requirement of more than 2 lakh vacancies, for which the students can get considered




Have you made any suggestions to the HRD Ministry in this regards ? Are those incorporated in SHREYAS ?


Yes

I am happy that most of the following have been incorporated , in varying degree . 


Hopefully, rest will follow :

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#   Universal Basic Income   ……………………………….[ 20  Jan  2017  ]

 

 WHAT WOULD BE THE RIGHT APPROACH ?

*  Right approach would be : " Do not give fish to a hungry man / teach him how to fish "


 In short , empower them to earn their own living by teaching them " Skills " and by
 gaining " Experience " in use of those skills


Entire cost of this " Skilling " and " Experiencing " to be borne by the Government , till
 each targeted poor / unemployed person , either gets gainfully employed or becomes
 self-employed


HOW TO TRANSLATE THIS " SELF HELP " CONCEPT INTO PRACTICE ?


Divide the implementation in following 3 phases


*    Empowering - 3 years ( Imparting Skills in Industrial Training Institutes )


*    Experiencing - 3 years ( Providing experience in Ind / Commercial Establishments )


*    Self-dependence Phase ( Working in a gainful job or as Self Employed )


WHAT SKILLS WILL GET PROVIDED IN ITI ?

Entire range of Manufacturing Industry related skills being currently imparted plus a
whole host of commercial skills required by E Commerce / Fintech / Agriculture Processing
 / Payment Banks / Service Sector / BPO / Telecom and other emerging sectors


HOW SHALL WE MOTIVATE UNEMPLOYED YOUTH TO JOIN ITIs ?

* Each trainee will receive Rs 1000 pm ( for course duration of 3 years )


   This amount will get deposited in Jan Dhan bank account of trainee ( DBT )


HOW CAN WE GET PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION IN THIS PHASE ?

*  If a Private firm or individual comes forward to set up such a Training Institute ,


   #  Treat it as an Infrastructure SPV


   #  No questions asked as to the source of funds for setting up such ITI


       {  a kind of Amnesty Scheme to convert Black Money into White Money  }


   #  A government grant of Rs 1,000 pm per trainee to such SPV ( DBT in Bank A/C )


If this is done , expect 10,000 SPVs to come up within one year and 10 million youth to
get  trained each year !


HOW CAN WE GET INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS TO PROVIDE
EXPERIENCE TO TRAINEES PASSING OUT OF ITIs ?

*  Amend Apprenticeship Act


*  Allow all Industrial and Commercial Establishments to engage ANY NUMBER of
   apprentices ( without upper limit ) , for a period of 3 years


*  Starting stipend = Min of Semi-Skilled wages ( currently , approx Rs 6,000 pm )


*  Annual Increment = 5 %


*  Establishment to pay 75 % of stipend


*  Government to pay 25 % of stipend ( DBT into Jan Dhan account of the Apprentice )

 

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

#  Discovering the Obvious ?  …………………………………………..[  30  Nov  2017  ]

 

 

    #  Revise Apprenticeship Act to enable employers to engage ANY NUMBER of ( eligible ) youth as apprentices and
        allow employers to devise “ Training Structure “ as per their needs



   #  An eligible youth can serve his apprenticeship period with only one employer


  #   A person who has successfully completed his apprenticeship cannot be accepted as apprentice , a second time , in    same or any other company


  #     Remove :


Ø    concept of 5 different “ categories “ of apprentices


Ø    concept of “ Shop-floor Trades “ for engaging Apprentices


    
  >       concept of “ Trade-wise Ratios “ of apprentices


Ø    distinction between “ Shop floor “ and “ Office “ , and just say “ Work Place 


Ø    the stipulation concerning “ different years of training for different trades “ .

             Just make all training for 4 years 


Ø    the concept of “ Contract Approval “ by Apprentice Advisor



 #   Fix stipends payable to apprentices as follows :

Starting Stipend…………….. Minimum wage as per Min Wage Act


Annual Increase……………… Linked to rise in CPI



#    Reimbursement of Training Cost incurred by the Employers


25 % of the Stipend cost to be borne by the Central Government and this amount to be transferred to the Jan Dhan Account of the concerned apprentice ( as DBT )


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

#  No mere Relief : A Game Changer   …………………[  20  Dec  2017  ]

 

 

#   Allow MSMEs to engage Apprentices under the recently revised Skills Development
     Regulations / Apprentice Act


#   For them , remove the upper limit ( of Apprentices ) which is maximum of 10 % of
     employee strength


#   Let them engage Apprentices up to 100 % of their existing employees


#   Let them keep these trainees for 3 years under " Retail Establishment Trainee
     Scheme "


#   Let the stipend be 100 % ( instead of currently prescribed 60-70-80 % ) of semi
     Skilled Minimum wages

     ( Minimum Semi Skilled Wages are approx Rs 6,000 per month - so Shopkeeper need
      to pay Rs 6000 pm )


#   Concerned State Governments to subsidize 50 % of this stipend (so, Shopkeeper's
     burden to be  Rs 3,000 pm )

     [  Stipend Subsidy does not violate WTO  !  ]


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

#  Of Interns and Apprentices   …………………………[  07  Jan  2018  ]

 

 

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

 


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

#   Organizing the Unorganized   ……………………………………[  04  Feb  2019  ]

 

There are around 15,000 skill training centres in the country right now, which are inadequate for India’s size

 

·      We need to train at least 2 crore people every year, but right now we’re training only 1.05 croreWe

        need to double our capacity


·      At Rs 3 cr / centre , we need Rs 45,000 cr to construct additional 15,000 centres , to be able to train 2 cr youth / year . It will take years to construct these centres , even if the required funds were available ( - which is not ! )



·       To bypass both of these limitations , I suggest :



         #   Transform millions of  MSME  into “ Skill Training Centres 


         #   Deliver online Training Courses for development of various skills through the
              Computer provided by the Labor Ministry for implementation of MaanDhan
              Scheme


        #   Some of these may be VR based training, requiring VR headsets ( to be provided
              FREE to MSME by this Ministry ) . These can be used not only by the apprentices
              but also by the MSME’s own workers


        #   As an incentive / motivation for the MSME to undertake to train at least 2
              apprentices per year ( under the Apprentice Act ) , following may be considered :

  
          +   Government subsidizing the stipend payable to the trainees by 50 %


          +   No obligation to absorb the trainees after completion of training



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

#  Congratulations , Anilbhai Naik  ………………………………………[  08  Feb  2019  ]

 

 *   Convert every existing establishment ( factory / office / shop / open yard  ) into a Training Centre

·         Remove all restrictions as outlined in my above-mentioned suggestions

·        Enable the unemployed youth ( 12 million / year ) to acquire online training from their homes , using government-giftedVR headsets [ much cheaper than granting Unemployment Allowance of Rs 3000 pm ( Rajasthan ) / Rs 1000 ( Andhra ) / many other States )

·       Subsidize Start Ups ( operating in the field of online Education ) to develop VR based training modules


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


Dear Shri Javadekarji,

 

Today’s Times of India carries following report about Shreyas :

The Apprentice : Modi govt’s job trump card  



From a mere “ trump card “ , you can turn it into an entire “ trump pack “ by implementing :


What will win the War ?      ……………….   [  26  March  2019  ]



By doling out Rs 3.6 Lakh*Crore per year ( year after year ) on their just announced NYAY Scheme, Congress would succeed in keeping 5 Crore families into “ perpetual poverty “

 

Now imagine this :

#  Government gives away ( FREE ) , AR/VR headsets , each costing Rs 5,000 , to ONE crore ( 10 million ) youth ,
    each year . That is a recurring cost of Rs 5,000 crore per year


#  By spending just Rs 5,000 per year ( per unemployed youth ) as against Rs 72,000 per family , you will enable
    that youth to start earning Rs 20,000 / month ( by getting a job / freelancing ) and pull himself out of poverty !

 


=======================================================================
03  March  2019

Rsvp :  hcp@RecruitGuru.com

Tuesday, 2 April 2019

100 % verification of VVPAT ? No problem !





During hearing on 25 March , Supreme Court asked Election Commission to examine the possibility of carrying out 100 % verification of paper slips , as demanded by the Opposition parties



Last week , EC came back and said :


Even 50 % verification will delay the declaration of election results by 6 days


Hence, 100 % verification was out of question


Observing that the current confidence level in EVM-VVPAT accuracy was 99.9936%, the ECI said any increase in the sample size of verification of VVPAT slips would only lead to a “ very negligible gain in the confidence level ”.


   

Now, it is too late for the upcoming elections within the next few days , but I urge EC to consider following suggestion for the next election ( even the very next State Election ) :



Just above the EVM , mount a CCTV camera , which is connected with the EVM and gets actuated as soon as the voter presses any button on the EVM



Using “ Close Up / Zoom In “ , the camera will capture a very sharp and focussed image of the paper slip which is below the glass panel and displays following details :


#  Candidate Serial Number

#  Candidate Name

#  Candidate’s photo



Using Image Processing Software ,


This IMAGE will get converted into TEXT,

- and

Get added to “ Verification Database of EVM # ABC

[ - with the latest Facial Recognition technology available commercially, this will pose no problem ]



Each IMAGE – and its corresponding TEXT will carry a “ System Time Stamp



When voting at a booth gets over at the end of the day , this entire database is tallied with the number of votes registered



That 100 % verification , would take a few seconds  !



That “ 100 % Electronic Audit  Tally [ EAT ], will be immediately shown to the representatives of all the Political parties who are authorized by the EC to remain present inside the booth



And they will be required to sign a EAT declaration , confirming the results shown to them



No more arguments / disputes !

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


Dear Shri Sunil Aroraji,


If you have any doubt re the feasibility of my suggestion, I request you to contact the manufacturers of the EVMs / CCTVs / TCS / Infosys / Wipro / L&T Infotech etc



This email is sent to :







================================================================
02  April  2019

Rsvp ;  hcp@RecruitGuru.com




Monday, 1 April 2019

Basic Income : a Bad Idea ?





Today , Rahul Gandhi is expected to release Election Manifesto of Congress Party


Among the umpteen untenable schemes , it will promise Minimum Income Guarantee Scheme


Elsewhere , known as Universal Basic Income [  UBI  ]


It may turn out to be a Bad Idea


It would appear so from the following news :




Highlights :

·          In April 2017, Ontario, Canada, announced plans to launch a basic income experiment.


·          It was supposed to last for three years, but Ontario canceled it after just one — and now several of the project’s participants have filed a class-action lawsuit against the province for the hardship that early cancellation has allegedly caused them.


·          One woman, Harley Worden, saw her income double through the project, which led to her signing a lease on an apartment she can no longer afford


·          Doyle Hillion, meanwhile, claims in the suit that she will no longer be able to pay the tuition for a broadcasting program she enrolled in after finding out she’d be a part of the basic income project.


·          The lawsuit alleges that other participants have reportedly suffered “mental distress” and “psychological injury” due to the program’s early cancellation


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

If UBI is proving to be a BAD idea for Ontario , it could be even a WORSE idea for India

Here is why :


[  A  ]   Resources needed

Ontario experiment covered only 4000 persons , offering Rs 72,300 per month to each ( Rs 34.7 Cr in all per year )


Minimum Guarantee Income Scheme of Congress will cover 5 cr families

And each family will get Rs 6000 per month




[ B ]   Long Term effects

Here is what I wrote on 20  Jan  2017  [  Universal Basic Income   ] :


*    I think the proposed Universal Basic Income scheme will not solve the problem . It

       may even worsen the situation by institutionalizing a " DEPENDENCY CULTURE " among the
  
       recipients , who will forever  look up to the " SARKAR MAA BAAP " to feed them !


      There is a danger that , in order to continue receiving the monthly DOLE , the recipients

      may never make any effort to rise above the POVERTY LINE !


      Any amount of money received under UBI Scheme will get spent , and never " Empower /

      Equip " the person with " Knowledge / Skills " to earn his own living and rise above

      poverty line



[  C  ]   Corruption  /  Litigation


In order to stay “ eligible “ to receive this dole , poor people will need to bribe the “ Poverty Certifying Authority “ for their low income certificate . Year after year !


Those who fail to get such certificate ( may be ONE CRORE persons ? ), may even file court cases


There will be plenty of organizations which will fight these PIL on their behalf, without charging any fees  !



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

What should be an alternate / better scheme that BJP should include in its Election Manifesto ?


This is explained in detail at :

What will win the War ?      [   26  March  2019  ]




Dear Shri Amitbhai Shah,

I hope you will find time to read this email

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

02  April  2019

Rsvp :  hcp@RecruitGuru.com