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third-rate colleges with degrees but no
real skills. They do not want blue col-
lar jobs and are unfit for white collar
jobs. Meanwhile companies complain
of shortage of good STEM (science,
technology, engineering and maths)
graduates. India needs an upgrading
of its entire rotten educational system
and that will take decades,” writes Ai-
yar.
H OWEVER YOUR EDITORS

don’t share this pessi-
mistic outlook. We be-
lieve that with innovative
thinking and determina-
tion, the education system can be up-
graded and rejuvenated within a few
years. For the past decade contermi- Aiyar: pie in sky numbers Ananth Krishnan: TVEs example
nously with presentation of the Union
Budget to Parliament in New Delhi, relatively rich who can be enthused ducted by the well-respected youth
EducationWorld has been presenting to contribute to educate the world’s training and placements firm Team-
a schema for the Centre to mobilise largest child and youth population in Lease Ltd, under the licence-permit-
over Rs.6-8 lakh crore for investment the national and their own interest, quota regime ordained by unique In-
in education and human resource de- the Union government can mobilise dian socialism, “a typical firm plying
velopment. an additional Rs.7-8 lakh crore for its business in the country is required
This calculus has been forwarded ramping-up the country’s “entire rot- to comply with provisions under 1,536
to dozens of eminent economists (in- ten” public education system through Acts, fulfil 69,233 compliances, and
cluding Swaminathan Aiyar) for com- a supplementary budget this very complete 6,618 filings at the Central,
ment at risk of disparagement, by your year. state, and local government levels”.
editor, not an economist by education Obviously, this requires a national, Rather than the confusing intern-
or vocation. Nevertheless as founding bipartisan effort through what emi- ship scheme drawn up by the finance
editor of Business India and Business- nent teacher-educator Maya Menon minister for Top 500 companies which
world — India’s first two business describes as “de-politicisation of edu- have the wherewithal to cope with
magazines which sowed the seeds of cation” and support of the academy, obdurate government controls over
the landmark liberalisation initiative establishment and educated middle industry, the finance minister would
in 1991 — this writer has some knowl- class. A revised EW schema for the be better advised to liberate labour-
edge of budgeting and business man- Central government to raise Rs.7.81 intensive MSMEs from the suffocating
agement. lakh crore for investment in public rules and regulations of the neta-babu
Therefore, we have some confi- education and human resource devel- brotherhood.
dence in the logical robustness of this opment is presented again for public The importance of MSMEs for
targeted resource mobilisation sche- comment and debate (see p.70). industrial development and employ-
ma. However to date, not one grey Meanwhile the government’s best ment generation is highlighted in
or otherwise eminent economist has bet to generate employment which, India’s China Challenge (2020), a
cared to respond or comment upon according to the respected Mumbai- mind-bending narrative authored
the EW schema. Indeed, a former, based think-tank CMIE, has risen by Ananth Krishnan, the Mandarin-
now New York-based Deputy Gover- to 9.2 percent cf. the normative 4-5 fluent Beijing-based correspondent
nor of the Reserve Bank of India who percent of the workforce, is to quickly of The Hindu, that explains the rise of
vouchsafed a response to enquire improve ease of business for the coun- China from poverty to the world’s top
whether this publication requires ad- try’s estimated 63 million MSMEs manufacturing factory within the past
ditional funding, refused to comment (micro small and medium enterpris- 40 years.
despite several reminders. es) which contribute 40 percent of “Following the end of the commune
Be that as it may, we believe that national manufacturing output and system and Deng Xiaoping’s market
by pruning some Central government employ 80 percent of the workforce. reforms in 1978, China’s growth was
expenditure, modest taxation of the According to a recent study con- propelled by a groundswell of millions

AUGUST 2024 EDUCATIONWORLD 75