Hardly four decades back majority of families in India especially in rural areas, were self-sufficient in respect of production of food grains and other facilities needed in life. They believed the theory of interdependence in the society they lived. They shared and pooled the resources they had for the sustainance of their lives which was later on called barter system. Every family unit had its own vocation, there were farmers who produced crops of all kind, the cobblers, black smiths who prepared agricultural implements and other instruments for domestic use, weavers, taming animals for milk, flesh, wool, eggs, bee keeping, preparing bamboo articles, carpenters. There were vocations pertaining to fleecing dead animals, tanning leather preparing shoes, leather boxes containers and infinite other unconceivable articles. Gradually the traditional vocations started vanishing due to the lack of the skilled hands in the family, non-availability of raw material, availability of educational facilities at the door step, production disproportionate to the demand, the advent of small industries in every field of life, standardisation of the products as compared to the one prepared at their homes, increasing cost of living and the migration of youth to other states to earn the lively hood for the family . The local products, which once used to cater to the needs of the local consumers fell short and the consumers had to purchase these products from the market.
Keeping in mind the disemination of the skills to the youth, improving upon the quality of the products and giving boost to these small scale industries the government introduced these courses in ITIs, Polytechnic institutes, vocational centres where desirous youth could get training in the vocations. But it is tragedy with many Indian institutions which, instead of producing the skilled hands, produce the diploma and the certificate holders, which prove of no use for the society. These raw hands, when placed in any field prove total unworthy of the job they are trained for.
It is shocking that the youth passing out from the professional institutes are found blank in the needed skills. Majority of the engineering graduates and diploma holders passing out from the colleges are found unable to repair even the domestic electronic, electric or mechanical gadgets themselves rather they get the services of a person who is totally illiterate about the theory part of the gadgets but expert in the practical sides of it. The practical training in forging, weaving, farming, implements making, plumbers, carpanters and many others can be arranged with the small family units persuing the vocation in a better way. The black smiths can demonstrate methods and skills of turning, moulding, casting and making holes in the iron metal. They can also educate them regarding the properties of metals, their malleability, ductility and conductivity. The weavers can demonstrate about the tensility of the yarns, making paterns, edges and designes. Similarily the farmers can demonstrate about art of ploughing, sowing, manuring, use of fertilisers etc. Our institutes give trainings in the theory part only but the parctical aspect lies only with the on the job training in the field. If we want to make the dream of our PM "Skill India" a success then we shoud also take our traditional vocation in its ambit. It is the only way we can transform every idle hand into earning one. The time has come to revive the vanishing Indian vocations in a better and reformed way so that our youth who once relenquished the ancessteral vocations start appreciating them and adapt them with honor and enthusiasm. The giant ships, monster structures and other unbelievable things were once made by the small units of vocations and not by the big industries.
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