Explaining why manufacturing must remain a focus for India, Congress’ Rahul Gandhi said that while there is the problem of unemployment in India, the US and other countries in the West, this is not the case with China since it is leading in world production.
Speaking with students at the University of Texas, Dallas on Sunday, Mr. Gandhi indicated that there was no lack of talent in India and claimed that India could catch up with China if it geared itself up for manufacturing.
He also highlighted the importance of promoting career education so as to close the gap between the business world & education and criticized the “mental colonization” of it.
Mr. Gandhi is on a four-day unofficial tour to the US, where as part of this visit, he will meet members of the Indian diaspora, youth in Dallas Texas and Washington DC. He is also expected to meet members of the US Congress and senior officials of the US government while in Washington DC from Monday.
After arriving in Dallas on Saturday night, he was received by several hundred members of the Indian American community including senior Congress leader Mr. Sam Pitroda and Mohinder Gilzian, President of Indian National Overseas Congress, USA.
“There is an employment crisis in the Western hemisphere. In India also there was an employment crisis… But such is not the case in many countries of the world. China for one has no such an employment crisis. Vietnam is similarly employment challenged,” Mr. Gandhi remarked.
“Now see those times America was in the 40s and 50s is looking at now all all manufacturing ‘hub’ be it anything that one wants anything manufactured, be it ‘cars,c, washing machines t.. It shifted. Production shifted. From the USA, it went to US held Korea and US moved Japan. At last it moved to china. In prior years but of course not to day, china was central in the global production” he said.
“America, Europe Especially western countries and India have “resigned from Production activity what seems to be a production activity” guilt” and it’s production has been ceded to china.”
“Because what the action of production does is create jobs. That m we do that Americans do that the west does it w organise consumption for instance What has been the most in some few years for indians… It is production and more important indians have to be active in the act of production or it is more about waging for organizing produced’.”
According to Mr. Gandhi, it is completely unreasonable that India says, sure, what you call manufacturing or production is going to be for the Chinese.
Addressing the latter, Mr. Gandhi stressed on the need of promotion of manufacturing.
“Until we do that, there are going to be chronic levels of unemployment. And frankly, it is not sustainable. Therefore, you are going to see that if we carry on down this path of forgetting about manufacturing, there is a lot of social problems which are going to seep in – in India, in the US and in Europe. The polarisation of our politics is because of this…” he added.
As Leader of the Opposition I gather, there is immense capability in the country and no shortage of skills.
“Many people say that India faces a skill problem. I do not think India faces a skill problem. I think… India does not respect people who have skills,” he lamented.
Vocational education needs to be incorporated by the education system so as to connect the student learner and the business system, said Mr. Gandhi.
“When you define such a gap and try to link these two systems, skills and education, vocational training is very basic and I think this there is a huge problem with the education system is the capture of an ideology; ideologies are being passed through it…,” he said.
India, he argued, stood a chance against China too if it were to orient itself for mass production and admire skills.
“I’m absolutely convinced of it. States like Tamil Nadu have already shown it. It’s not that Indian states have not done it. Pune has shown it. Maharashtra has shown it. So, it is being done but it’s not being done at the scale and with the coordination that it needs to be done,” he said.
