“Skill India” Next Bread And Butter For Rural India

What is Skill India?

On July 15th 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched this campaign with hopes of being able to impart various skill sets amongst at least 40 crore Indians by year 2022. The campaign was based on the belief that filling the pockets of the poor is not enough but rather instilling a sense of self- confidence in the poor. This is accurately quoted in the Bible,

“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”

“Skill India” aims at training individuals who seek help to enhance their knowledge and skill through hard work and commitment. The initiative was introduced by Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship along with National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC) , they have since partnered with CMC to create an online platform in order to provide a holistic view of the scheme.

What skills does it promote

The beauty of this campaign is the diverse skills it has tried to incorporate under its umbrella; the courses offered include technical courses such as banking and accounting or process instrumentation as well as labour intensive work such as construction or woodwork.

Overall, it covers approximately 184 courses from different sectors and provides employment opportunities with as many as 150 registered employers to those who are trained under the campaign. Another interesting angle to the online portal is how the citizens are encouraged to contribute to the idea; people are even free to provide course material to those seeking it actively. This platform has proved its influence to spread awareness about everything “Skill India” has to offer under its belt.

The Rural Impact

Even though the campaign was introduced on a Pan India level, its major impact was felt in rural areas and small towns. The government had indicated that its primary area of focus is development of rural India, keeping in tune with that objective; efforts have been made to implement the campaign with the same ferocity in rural areas as well.

The greater impact can be attributed to the reality that rural workforce lacks a platform to get access to vocational and skill training or pursue their interests. The campaign seeks to break the monotony of hierarchical and restricted choices of career for the youth and lack of opportunities for them. The structure has been designed in such a way that a person residing in rural area can use it to find a firm footing in areas that he or she would not have had an easy access to otherwise.

Few of the courses have been introduced to cater to rural population specifically, such as the ones dedicated to:-

• Agriculture

• Animal Husbandry

• Sericulture

• Toy making

• Basic art of engraving

• Carpet Making

• Jute work

• Meat Processing

Other than above given courses, programmers have also been planned to reintroduce education for the people who left school early in the face of special night programmers and differential training.

The future Reliance

The milestone that the campaign hopes to reach has a much deeper impact on rural India, not only does it provide a way to the youth to learn and open up the doors to many opportunities, it also contributes to helping natives engaged in agriculture and allied activities by imparting knowledge about new updates in technology and market.

In the economy slowing shifting away from its sole reliance n agriculture, this campaign can act as a catalyzing agent to make this change smoother. Therefore, it is safe to say that “Skill India” can be considered the bread and butter of rural India in the near future.

Neglecting Rural May Be A Costly Affair On Long Run for Marketers

One of the most important factors influencing the campaign and its success is the reach it can muster but when marketers place their reliance on specific regions and urban geographical limits, they often fail to comply with the future prospects of the brand. Since, every brand wants to eventually grow and expand, there is a constant need of innovation.

This is the moment when marketers should move their gaze to the real India, Rural India where they often tread lightly or avoid going completely. Few of the things stopping them are the lack of resource availability, transportation problems and lack of distributors and decreased efficiency.

However, are these reasons sufficient to ignore the vast market that is Rural India?

The answer is No, they aren’t, even though rural marketing can be challenging, the rewards are worth it.

Why is concentrating on Rural India important? 

The villages of India and small areas nearby are famously referred to as Rural India, let us see why ignoring Rural areas may prove to be a mistake made by the marketers:-
Growth and expansion

In order to expand, a brand needs to enter into new markets even though they might be out of its comfort zone. Once a market is captured, it is important to move into others to ensure growth and sustainability.

Population
70 percent of India is living in rural areas and small towns and the access to such a large audience is very important for a brand to grow and achieve better results. If such a large portion of the audience can be a very risky move as the brand’s visibility will always be restricted and exposure limited.

Future Possibilities 
The government of India through the union budget has ensured its focus on Rural India, allocation has been made to provide better infrastructure in rural areas such as better roads, electricity, irrigation facility, internet centres, digital platforms etc. Simultaneously, schemes have been introduced to protect the farmer’s interest and provide them with a stable income.

All these efforts lead to increase in standard of living of the people and also a gradual increase in their disposal income which makes them a potential customer.

Long term benefits 
One look at the statistics will let you know that the spike in rural growth and development has just started and surely will rise in the future. This means that soon rural India would become a more attractive market. If a marketer ignores it now, they would face problems finding an entry later on when the market starts booming.

Space for everyone
While urban markets allure everyone, they are not fit for few brands, at times products demand a more regional approach and different crowd. This is perfectly provided by the rural areas and small towns.

A smart marketer would understand that neglecting rural areas may cost them in long run and giving them their due credit right now will definitely benefit them. Rural India is the future of India.