Year 2001-2002 Annual Report

An unfortunate reality of the economic scenario in J&K state has been that there is no employment being generated except by the government. No major industry has come up in the private sector in J&K with the result that an army of unemployed have no option but to throng Government offices for jobs. The prevailing law & order situation in the state has not helped the situation. In this background we feel that an economic activity to generate employment in the state is required. However the employment can only be generated if the skills of people are improved. As skilled workers these people will be able to earn more and will be more in demand in the job market, within the state and outside. J&K has traditionally been a consumer state. Our state has been a market for goods produced in other parts of the country. Not much effort has been made to change this situation.

The government efforts to provide succour through its on going programmes have not been of much help. These Government programmes have mostly failed because they inculcate a dependency syndrome, which the target groups find very difficult to get out of. For example, it has been observed that merely providing sewing machines or imparting of training in tailoring, as done by numerous Governmental and philanthropic organizations is not enough. The beneficiaries are often not trained enough with marketable skills to be able to attract business to earn a livelihood thereby defeating the whole effort. More needs to be done for these unfortunate sections of our society, especially women, so that they get out of the habit of economic dependence and do not need financial crutches throughout their lives.

In the light of above background a different strategy of intervention is required for the more vulnerable sections of the society, especially women. We feel that there is a requirement of a self-sustaining economic activity in order to give them an opportunity to earn a respectable livelihood.

We plan to start Vocational Training cum Production Centres for Women in Jammu. The beneficiaries would be trained in these centres in different vocations and would then be employed in the training centre itself that would also function as a production centre. The trainees will get paid for goods produced by them in the Centre. The wages would increase according to the skills of the trainee and it is hoped that some of the trainees would start earning during the course of their training programme. Thus the concept of “Earn as you Learn” would be implemented practically in these centres. The purpose of centralizing production is to control the quality of production so that the final product is of the best quality. This would also help in meeting deadlines.  

Our strategy is qualitatively different from the Government intervention primarily because it removes the continuous dependence syndrome. This will be achieved by firstly making sure that the trainees continue in the Training Centre till they are perfect in their trade; secondly by providing them with work to do even after they are trained and thirdly by paying the beneficiaries for the work they do in the production centres.

Producing goods within the state would not only help in generating employment within the state but also help the state economically by increasing the buying power of the local population. It is hoped that catering to the demands of J&K state by producing good quality consumables within the state will be an activity having many beneficial spin offs for the economy of the state. It is hoped that large organizations that are big consumers would be able to pass on a part of the orders that they place on suppliers from out of the state to these production centres so that the benefits percolate to the local population, who will be gainfully employed at these centres.

With this concept in mind we have started with a Vocational Training Centre cum Production House where the trainees would primarily be trained in various vocations following stringent quality quotient and subsequently provided with work to generate money as per their skills. This experimental Centre has begun functioning in a building in Mohalla Dalpatian, Near DC Office, Jammu. In the beginning, we propose to train the target groups in tailoring and allied activities. At a later stage the trainees would be imparted other skills such as Candle-making, Food Processing, Beauty Therapy and Computer Application. At present the number of trainees is very small. SCOPE is supporting the Centre by booking small orders from local market. We hope to increase the skills of the trainees to be able to produce bigger orders from agencies and institutions in and around Jammu to make the Centre a self-sustaining activity.

To impart marketable skills as per high standards prevailing, we propose to collaborate with a leading Garment Designer and Exporter from New Delhi who has agreed to be our Consultant. She has agreed to provide with the technical inputs needed for making our Vocational Centres operational. The Tailor Masters who are presently producing for the export market will train the candidates enrolled in the Centre. This will enable the trainees to learn and upgrade their skills according to the high-quality International standards and eventually take up Assembly Line Production. Our Consultant is even willing to shift her own production base to Jammu sometime in the future, in case enough skilled manpower is available locally. This would be subject to the quality and quantity of the trainees becoming perfect in their skills. This, we hope, will make the Training cum Production Centres more meaningful in the intervention and support that we hope to provide to these vulnerable sections of the society.