Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
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SOCIAL ACCOUNTS –
REPORT FOR THE YEAR 2005-06
PREPARED BY
Monitoring and Evaluation Group
DR REDDYS FOUNDATION
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CONTENTS:
Acknowledgement
1. Introduction and Context of Dr Reddy’s Foundation 5 -9
2. Scope and Methodology of Social Accounts 10-11
3. Action taken on Previous Year Social Audit Recommendation 12-13
4. Mission , Values and Objectives of DRF 14
5. QUEST :
� Introduction and Mission , Values , Objectives 15
� Report on performance 16-26
� Feedback Commentary 27
6. SCOPE :
� Introduction and Mission , Values , Objectives 28
� Report on performance 29-63
� Feedback Commentary 64
7. LABS :
� Introduction and Mission , Values , Objectives 65
� Report on performance ( Section wise detailed report ) 66-182
� Framework Coded for LABS 183-187
� Feedback Commentary 188-189
8. Aarogya :
� Introduction and Mission , Values , Objectives 190-191
� Report on performance 192-214
� Feedback Commentary 215
9. Economic Impact and a report on a variant of LM3 for DRF 216-233
10. Main Issues & Achievements , Conclusion and Recommendations 234
11. Financials of DRF 235-237
12. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Social Accounting Process & Plans 238-239
13. Annexure 240-248
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Acknowledgement
The second Social Accounts were initiated keeping in mind the need to expand its scope
and include programs other than LABS as well. This was possible due to the collective
efforts undertaken by many people who contributed directly and indirectly to the entire
process.
Firstly we appreciate the efforts of the Senior Management team here in DRF and the
Board of Trustees who constantly supported in this endeavour.
We would like to acknowledge the Head office and the LABS field staffs who have been
patient in accommodating our scheduled field visits across 8 states. A special mention
about the support extended in Karimnagar and Raipur. The Administration and the
Finance teams have been equally cooperative in fulfilling our myriad requests
We are also grateful to all the partners who contributed in this year’s accounts by sharing
valuable thoughts and also those who have been continuously supporting us in our
activities.
This year’s Social Accounts attempted to include education and we are thankful for their
continuous support and understanding as it was our first foray into this area
The team of Poverty Learning Foundation who helped us in achieving the targets we had
set and contributed in the preparation of the preliminary report on LABS. We also
acknowledge the effort put by Mr Amit Upadhyay who supported us in the collation of all
the programs in the accounts.
We extend our sincerest appreciation to all the Social Audit Panel members for giving us
time and effort and providing an opportunity to experience an enriching and insightful
discussion. Their ideas and insights have been instrumental in enhancing our perspective
as well as serve as a guiding light for the future accounts.
Lastly we would like to thank all the aspirants, their families and neighbours along with the
employers who shared their views with us.
Mrinalini Shastry Namrata Kaur
In case there is any feedback or comment, please let us know.
Dr.Reddy’sFoundation
6-3-655/12,Somajiguda,
Hyderabad-500082.
Ph:+91-40-23301868/4199
Fax:+91-40-23301085
URL: www.drreddysfoundation.org
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List of Abbreviations used in this Report:
LABS : Livelihood Advancement Business School
ITES : Information Technology Enabled Services
BSPA : Bed Side Patient Assistance
DRF : Dr Reddy’s Foundation
CRS : Customer Relation Services
WGS : White Goods services
ILO : International Labour Organisation
SSC : Secondary School Certificate
AP : Andhra Pradesh
J & K : Jammu and Kashmir
WRM : Work Readiness Modules
CBO : Community Based Organisation
NGO : Non Government Organisation
EGMM : Employment Generation Marketing Mission
SDC : School Development Committee
MRP : Mandal Resource Person
SPD : State Project Director
MEO : Mandal Education Officer
MFV : Mobile food vendor
ABC : Adolescent Bridge Course
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Introduction
What happens when India’s premier pharmaceutical company decides to make a
contribution to the social sector, bringing its experience of diversification and
expansion to its social-work endeavours? The goal of expanding responsible social
entrepreneurship among corporate houses is in line with the mission-trajectory of Dr.
Reddy’s Laboratories, of which Dr. Reddy’s Foundation (DRF) is an ameliorative
arm. The foundation has increased the scope of its activities since the last financial
year, apart from adding on new programs to the existing stable. Central to these
innovations has been the design of the 3-to-35 continuum, understanding which
allows for an understanding of the basic tenets of the DRF philosophy.
DRF has completed its tenth year of operations, and as determined in the last Social
Audit, an annual Social Audit Report of these new developments within the past year
is in order. Taking the lead from last year’s Social Audit Report, the reasons for
undertaking stated therein still hold true here and now, and they are stated below:
* To report accurately and honestly on all the achievements of the programs
* To allow our stakeholders to affect the behaviour and influence the policy of the
organization.
* To demonstrate to our partners what the organization has achieved and what it is
capable of achieving
* To acquire a sharper understanding of DRF’s core values and objectives
* To stimulate a more open and honest internal and external appraisal.
* To prepare for the large scale up of activities that is already showing in our
operations
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Context of Dr Reddy’s Foundation (DRF):
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories is a market leader in pharmaceuticals, and the work of the
Foundation has internalised the goals of the umbrella organisation. Believing in the
triple bottom line approach, Dr. Reddy’s evaluates is work on the economic,
environmental and social dimensions of performance. DRF, the Corporate Social
Responsibility Partner of Dr. Reddy’s, helps it to reach out to underrepresented and
underprivileged communities in a focused manner.
DRF is a social change catalyst that fosters, develops and promotes initiatives at
individual / group / organization levels to promote sustainable social development.
Believing in the inherent motivation and capacity of the human being for progress –
given the appropriate and adequate environment, the Foundation innovates and
tries out novel concepts that are continuously refined and scaled up to cover larger
groups of deprived populations.
Following from this belief, the Foundation is currently engaged in two broad areas of
operation- Education and Livelihoods. Education focuses on providing opportunity
for learning to those that have dropped out as well as improving the quality of
education in schools ‘Livelihoods’ addresses issues of income increase,
employability and vocational empowerment through a multitude of programs . The
target groups that DRF addresses range across the continuum of age 3 to 35,
catering to their specific needs as depicted in the diagram
SCOPE Tribal Schools
Neighborhood Schools
3 Years 35 Years 13 Years 18 Years
LABS Micro Entrepreneurship
ABC KARV Vocational
College
DRF OPPORTUNITY CONTINUUM
SCOPE Tribal Schools
Neighborhood Schools
3 Years 35 Years 13 Years 18 Years
LABS Micro Entrepreneurship
ABC SCOPE
Tribal Schools Neighborhood Schools
3 Years 35 Years 13 Years 18 Years
LABS Micro Entrepreneurship
Livelihoods Hub
ABC
DRF OPPORTUNITY CONTINUUM
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The programs highlighted in yellow form a part of this year’s reporting. QUEST, a
program we have reported on, is the translation of traditional SCOPE as well as
LABS curricula in a digital medium, and therefore is not covered separately in the
diagram. Aarogya, another program we have reported on, is a Micro-
entrepreneurship program, and therefore is not separately mentioned.
Map showing the Operational areas of DRF
Education:
School Community Partnership in Education (SCOPE) (January 20031):
SCOPE works with over 70 schools in the Balanagar area of Hyderabad2. This is a
comprehensive program working on increasing enrolment, retention and successful
assessment rates in Government Schools. This is achieved through a variety of
interventions such as residential/non residential bridge schools, pedagogical support
to teachers, active community involvement in the schools etc. These interventions
are also being applied in the tribal context in Khammam district, with over 25
schools.
1 Start Dates of Each Project are mentioned in the brackets
2 Balanagar constitutes a ‘mandal’ which is an administrative unit of the Government. SCOPE
interventions are spread across all schools in this one unit.
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Adolescent Bridge Course Centre (ABC) (July 2005): For those that opted to
drop out of mainstream education due to pressures of income, family, etc., the ABC
centre provides a fresh opportunity. It helps drop outs prepare and appear for the
age appropriate board examinations- Class VII and Class X. Intensive academic
support is accompanied by career exploration so that children in the age group of
13-18 are aware of the value of education, and the opportunities available to them.
KARV Vocational Junior College (June 2003): This two year certified vocational
training particularly aims at adolescents between the ages 15 to 21 years who look
out for a practical course so that they can start earning while they continue/or have
to discontinue their college education, because of their family's financial conditions.
After passing out of high school, students are unclear about their future vocation.
Sometimes the aspirations harboured by students may be unrealistic in relation to
the number of years required by students to complete their course of study. It is in
such a context that the Vocational Junior College provides a firm grounding in
vocational courses and soft skills that enable a higher likelihood for placement.
Livelihoods:
Livelihoods Advancement Business Schools (LABS) (July 1999): LABS is the
flagship program of the Foundation, and caters to school/college dropouts in the age
group of 18-35. LABS in a very simple and systematic manner attempts to match the
demands of the industry with the potential of LABS aspirants. It offers path-breaking
job oriented training courses to youth who have barely reached high school levels of
formal education and prepares them for entry- level jobs in various industrial sectors.
The only prerequisite considered in the selection process is that the student should
belong to the last 15% income strata and have a demonstrated aptitude for the
chosen training course. Having proven itself in the new economy, urban context,
LABS is well on it way to developing skills of the youth in the deep rural areas of the
country with its agro based livelihoods initiatives.
Micro Entrepreneurship Programs (July 2006): ME programs endeavour to
encourage and nurture youth for entrepreneurship, support their quest for new and
untried skills development, business plan development, market linkages, etc. Two
successful pilots- one with mobile eateries (Aarogya, covered later in the report),
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and one with sweet corn vending, have been run in this area, and the Foundation
intends to scale this initiative up further.
Livelihoods Hub (May 2006): The livelihood hub is a step for linking the
underprivileged and the economic force, an agency for the youths. It is envisaged as
a localized entity that will continuously scan its environs and will present all available
opportunities to various target groups, with the commonality of economic
backwardness. It would be the local agency for all those that are presenting
opportunities, as well as those that are seeking it. Thus, it is to be positioned as a
repository of opportunities- through Government Schemes, Private Sector
Employment, Skills Development, Entrepreneurship Development Support as well as
Bank Linkages. The ‘customers’ of this service could range from school drop outs to
graduates, from individuals to self help groups. A pilot initiative has been
implemented, and will be reported upon next year.
One of the striking things about DRF since the last year’s accounts is the
expansion- geographically and programmatically. The following comparison between
key indicators of 2004-05 and 2005-06 are captured below.
From the Start of the Program to 31
March 2005
From April 2005-March 2006
Number of Livelihoods Created
36000 20083
Number of LABS Centers Across the Country
40 122
Placement % 80 76
Gender Ratio(M/F) 50/50 48/52
Geographical Spread 5 States of India, Vietnam
9 States of India, Sri lanka, Indonesia
Staff Count 196 607
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Scope and Methodology of Social Accounts:
Last year’s Social Accounts grappled with the ambit and scale of operations that
ought to be covered, and looked at the various modules under LABS. Social Audit
Report 2004-05 (SAR0405) limited itself to enunciating the components within the
Livelihood Advancement Business Schools (LABS). This year’s Social Accounts
aims to achieve a broader representation of not only the scope of the various
programs that function under the auspices of the foundation, but also their impact It
seeks to explain the motivations behind choosing the expansion-oriented path DRF
has chosen, within its flagship project LABS and its off-shoots such as AAROGYA,
Agro-based Livelihood Initiatives, Micro-entrepreneurship development cell,
Livelihood hub as well as in DRF’s programs in the Education sector such as
SCOPE and QUEST.
The methodology of the Social accounts for the specific programs under ‘Education’
and ’Livelihood’ are stated along with the section on the performance of the
programs.
The methodology used for collecting data required for evaluating programs under
DRF was similar to last year’s data collection. After the initial self-awareness
exercises on social reporting within the organization, we analysed the mission of
AAROGYA, QUEST and SCOPE, and broke it down into broad objectives that we
seek to accomplish through the program. These objectives were further broken
down into activities and each activity was mapped to a social book keeping
indicator- qualitative or quantitative. Then we had to identify where we would find
answers to our questions on these indicators. Some were available through
secondary data such as Minutes of meetings, Valedictory Reports, Inception reports,
Progress and Completion reports, Information with Human resource management
and Finance etc. Each social bookkeeping indicator was then mapped to
stakeholders, and appropriate questionnaires were framed. These are available for
ready reference upon request for an appropriate purpose.
The challenge for the SCOPE evaluation was in drawing a representative sample
from the various stakeholders within this program. These included school children
from various schools, parents, community, School Development Committee and the
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Basti School Committee. LABS evaluation for the purposes of the social accounts
followed a template similar to last year to maintain comparability with last year.
Quest was analyzed from the secondary data almost entirely as the project has
been wound up.
The most significant difference as per last year’s Social Audit recommendation was
the involvement of an External Agency –Poverty Learning Foundation for Data
collection LABS has a larger share of the sample within the entire evaluation as it is
the largest program running under the auspices of DRF, and hence increased
sample weighting was duly assigned to maintain analytical balance between the
various programs. While LABS information was collected through a questionnaire,
interviews (lasting about 20 minutes each) were conducted with 2 members of the
Board of Trustees to elicit their views on DRF as an organization.
Aarogya’s evaluation used a multi-pronged approach in gathering its data. A
combination of questionnaires, interviews, case studies and feedback from
stakeholders provided the information in evaluating this program.
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Action taken on previous years’ Social Audit Recommendations
The list of issues highlighted for improvement in the Social Audit Report 2004-05
can largely be grouped into the following four areas. The following areas are the
main themes as drawn from all the issues discussed in the Audit report 2004-05.
The list of issues (Social Audit Report 2004-05) is attached as Annexure 1.
Quality related issues: These are the issues related to the functioning of the
program in terms of its delivery. Appraisals and Induction trainings took place and 2
cycles of the appraisal was completed. In order to assure quality in the LABS
process, Quality Assurance and Enhancement (QAE) was planned which looks into
the quality of livelihoods across the centres and suggest steps for enhancement of
functional activity in the program
As far as the economic criteria is concerned , it is difficult to set a fixed criteria due
to the variations in the rural and urban set up and hence there are exceptions to the
criteria laid down by LABS . This problem is being sought to be addressed through
the QAE group that ensures that the LABS process is not diluted in the face of a
scale up.
Documentation and Reporting Issues: The area of reporting and documenting
has evolved with standardized formats being streamlined and timelines being
considered although there exists scope for further improvement in this area..
Secondary data collection was done through Post placement surveys and Case
studies for this year’s audit report .The Post placement surveys provide us with
information about the aspirants in areas of professional development, sustainability
QUALITY RELATED ISSUES
DOCUMENTATION AND REPORTING
RELATED ISSUES
CURRICULUM RELATED ISSUES
ALUMNI RELATED ISSUES
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and also Higher education .Over 350 Case studies were collected in the Audit period
showcasing the transformation in the lives of the aspirants
Curriculum related issues:
Effort was put in the areas related to curriculum revision and its development after
the feedback from the last year’s Audit report.
Involvement of the employers in the development of curriculum has immense value
as it suggests changes/ improvements in the existing curriculum in respect of
various trades reflecting the actual job requirements in the real situation. This has
been achieved to some extent by the introduction of Domain Conferences .Domain
conferences were introduced with the purpose of involving the Employer’s feedback
on the curriculum that would bring a sense of ownership from their end. Also an
update in the industry is incorporated in the curriculum making it easier to meet the
demands of the employers. This however needs to be strengthened as there is a
need to involve the Employers as evident in this Year’s Accounts.
Alumni related issues:
Alumni meetings and active alumni committees are yet to be streamlined with the
existing plan and the purpose being to understand the impact of the program and
the graduates’ progress at the workplace. We are yet to evolve this system through
which various hard spots in the training program are identified. Although feedback is
collected informally through various channels, we need to initiate these meetings as
a part of the LABS system.
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Dr Reddy’s Foundation
Dr Reddy’s Foundation ‘s Mission (Adopted in November 2006)
Dr. Reddy’s Foundation strives to create quality opportunities in education and
livelihoods for all. The focus is on the people who are deprived. We believe equity in
education and livelihoods helps in building an inclusive society. We build
partnerships with all concerned in this endeavour
Values
o Need to give back to society
o Catalysing innovative and sustainable change
o Mentoring private and public enterprise and facilitating transfer of successful
business practices, skills and resources to benefit non-profit initiatives.
Each project under the umbrella of DRF has is individual objectives and
stakeholders. These are presented later in the report.
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QUEST
INTRODUCTION: QUEST – Quality Education and Skills Training Alliance is a
partnership of public , private and Non-Governmental Organizations to work together
to create , pilot and institutionalize technological tools for improving the quality of
education and workforce development training for disadvantaged youth
QUEST MISSION
Create basic models of interactive distance learning facilitation for youth in
Community learning centres
QUEST VALUES
• Need to give back to society
• Catalysing innovative and sustainable change
• Mentoring private and public enterprise and facilitating transfer of successful
business practices, skills and resources to benefit non-profit initiatives
QUEST OBJECTIVES
To connect the 6 Learning Institutes (3 in Maharashtra & 3 in Andhra Pradesh) with
learning studios in Mumbai and Hyderabad through the use of satellite technology
and software designed for interactive distance learning facilitation for youth in
Community Learning Centres.
STAKEHOLDERS: QUEST
Since secondary data formed the foundation of this study, no stakeholders were
directly involved in the process. However informal interactions took place with the
concerned staff.
Key Stakeholders
LABS Aspirants ( Aspirants )
Facilitators ( LABS )
Staff
Students- Adolescent Bridge Course centres( ABC )
Facilitators ( ABC )
Partner NGO – Pratham
USAID
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The Report on Performance for QUEST:
Introduction:
QUEST was a consortium formed by USAID in association with DRF, Azim Premji
Foundation (APF), and Pratham Educational Initiatives & WIPRO Foundation. The
other partners include Microsoft, International Youth Foundation (IYF) and ICICI
Community Initiatives. IYF through their network has brought Lucent Technologies,
Nokia Enterprises and GE Foundation to the QUEST Alliance. DRF and Pratham
combined resources and expertise to create a basic model for interactive Distance
learning for the disadvantaged youth.
The QUEST Alliance goal is to work towards effective use of education technology
for the underprivileged across the nation. As a pilot, a grant was given to DRF for
implementing distance education through one-way video and two ways audio using
VSAT Technology to reach the educationally disadvantaged youth in the community.
Through the digitized modules and live telecasting which took place under QUEST,
the effectiveness of the modules was reflected in the large number of students who
were benefited under this program. The project was extended till October 2006
although the time span was till March 2006.
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NETWORK DIAGRAM (QUEST)
Methodology for Evaluating QUEST
Evaluating QUEST involved looking at the feedback from those exposed to special
purpose content, from those who dropped out from the program along with the
reasons for dropping out, feedback on the level of interaction between participants
and the distance-trainers. Feedback looking at evaluation about the performance of
trainers and teachers, as well as feedback on the online MIS reports has been
assembled for analysis. Feedback from visits by Pratham, the partner organisation
as well as those made by USAID are available as mails. Minutes of quarterly
meetings conducted with all partner organisations have been included in the
analysis. Secondary data has been the backbone of the QUEST analysis as an
extensive Primary study had been conducted as a part of the program itself.
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Stakeholders Mode of Data
Collection.
Additional
Sources.
LABS Aspirants
Facilitators
Feedback from
Progress Report
ABC Students
Academic Facilitators
Feedback from
Progress Report
Partner NGO – Pratham Minutes of
Quarterly
Meetings.
Feedback
From
Visits.
USAID Minutes of
Quarterly
Meetings.
Feedback
From
Visits.
OBJECTIVE:
To connect the 6 Learning Institutes (three each in Maharashtra & Andhra Pradesh)
with learning studios in Mumbai and Hyderabad through the use of satellite
technology and software designed for interactive distance learning facilitation for
youth in Community Learning Centre
Social Book Keeping Indicators Activity I
Quantitative Qualitative
# of Transmitting
Studios set up
Quality of
equipments
maintained in the
studios
Set up 2 studios
to transmit
distance learning
content Existence of relevant
equipments present in
the studios
The setting up of two transmitting studios took place at the beginning of the project –
one in Mumbai and one in Hyderabad. The setting up of the studios was completed
in the first month of the project as per the timeline in the project proposal. The
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‘Centralized Training Studio’ is the place where the on – line facilitation, curriculum
development and training take place.
These studios were equipped with relevant equipments - video camera, sound
proof infrastructure, AC, high band-width connection, hardware servers, and the
necessary furniture to seat the trainer and the relevant staff. Quality of equipments
was already of a higher standard and hence it was maintained in the studios.
Social Book Keeping Indicators Activity 2
Quantitative Qualitative
# of Receiving Centres
set up
Quality of
equipments
maintained in the
studios
Set up Receiving
centres in the 6
Learning Institutes # of relevant
equipments present in
the studios
Location of
receiving centre
The setting up of six receiving centres connected to the central studio was planned
as per the project proposal. However there was considerable delay in the setting up
of all the receiving centres, setting up of studio, establishing of connectivity and
band-width sharing. Seven more receiving centres were set up in the course of time
as there were savings earned in the satellite technology being used for this project.
Thus the additional centres were set up to accommodate more students. The
receiving centres were located in the learning institutes- 10 in Andhra Pradesh and 3
in Maharashtra. The receiving centres were located in a place which is
geographically distant from the city of Hyderabad, and they are as follows:
Livelihood Advancement Business School Centres
• Chandanagar
• Rajahmundry
• Nalgonda
• Karimnagar
• Kadapa
• Warangal
• Eluru
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• Guntur
Adolescent Bridge Course Centres
• Moosapet
• Borabanda
Quality of Equipment:
Number of relevant equipments present in the studios included a receiving satellite,
bank of computers, scanner, Web camera, printer, uninterrupted power supply, and
furniture.
Social Book Keeping Indicators Activity 3
Quantitative Qualitative
#of academic facilitators
who will deliver the
content
Range of Course
content
# of courses with
digitized content
# of digitized content
delivered
Creation of Content
(Curriculum)
Range of special
purpose content
Feedback from
those exposed to
special purpose
content
20 facilitators (16 for LABS & four for ABC) were trained to deliver the content of the
program. This Academic Facilitators (ABC) were responsible for delivering the
learning program that would enable the students to appear and clear the 7th, 8th, 9th
and 10th grade.
14 E-Learning Modules:
Fourteen e-learning modules were developed for seven subjects. It was initially
decided that there would be two modules for each subject but later this was revised
as 14 modules for 14 subjects. The curriculum content for ABC was also translated
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into Telugu for the convenience of the local students. The following modules have
been digitized in Telugu for ABC:
• Energy
• Basics of Mathematics
• Light
• Sound
(Source – Secondary Data -Annual Report 2005-06)
The content developed for the LABS program was as following
S.
no
Subject Modules- Title Duration (In
min.)
1 Automobile Basics of Two /
Four Wheelers
32
2 AIDS Awareness Leading A
Positive Life
25
3 Micro Irrigation
Micro Irrigation 25
4 Mobile Eateries Health & Hygiene
25
5 CRS
Basics of Sales 25
6 Spoken English Day-to-day
English
42
7 Life Skill Life Skill
73
8 R & A/c
Basic Lessons on
Refrigeration
& Air
Conditioning
29
9 Hospitality
Food & Beverage
Service
Housekeeping
15
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10 Network and
internet concepts
30
11 Desktop
Publishing
Corel DRAW
-Creating a
LOGO
Photoshop
- Photo
Makeover
15
12 Work Readiness
Module
Work Readiness
Module
Self paced
13 Teaching
Learning
Methodology
Facilitators
Training Module
Self paced
14 Bed Side Patient
Asst.
10
Source – Secondary Data -Annual Report 2005-06
Number / Percentage of Courses with Digitized Content:
It was found after a ‘Hard Spots’ identification survey, topics which were difficult to
explain in the class were digitized and delivered to the students (LABS). Around five
percent of the course content was digitized not only through animation but also with
audio & video. Digitization through animation proved to be very time consuming and
expensive and hence as per the timeline 5% was covered. Moreover this would
serve as an aid in learning and not as a substitute.
As the content for LABS courses was developed, most of the time went in updating
the content to current market needs and data collection related to facilitators. Before
beginning the process of content development a survey was conducted with
facilitators at various LABS centres with a questionnaire. Format for data collection
attached in Annexure 2
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Reading Clubs: These clubs were opened so that reading as a habit could be
inculcated in the students as well as have a place in the community where the
community members could also access newspapers. These clubs contain books,
comics and story books that are easy for students to access. The average number of
books available at each reading club was 170. The total number of libraries opened
was 78, while the total number of children benefiting from the libraries was 604. As
the content for LABS courses was developed, most of the time went in updating the
content to the current market needs and data collection related to facilitators.
Range Of Special Purpose Content: There was a ‘Hard Spots’ identification
survey done to finalize the modules to be digitized. Hard Spots are topics which are
difficult to explain in class. There is no specific data which maybe reviewed for the
feedback of the students with respect to the Hard Spots identification survey.
Social Book Keeping Indicators
Quantitative Qualitative
# of enrolled
participants
Socio- Economic
profile
% of participants who
continue attending the
course
Views/Feedback
from drop outs
with respect to
reason for
dropping out
No of participants who
are evaluated
periodically
Feedback on the
level of interaction
between the
participants and
the distance
trainers
Activity 3
Develop systems and
processes to utilize
human resources and
infrastructure for
monitoring , status
reporting , testing and
other communication
activities
QUEST Aspirant
performance in
evaluations
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Non QUEST Aspirant
performance on
evaluations
Findings of
evaluation
processes on
trainers and
teachers
No and frequency of
trainings
The total number of students who have passed out from these skills training
programs was 1573 (673 Men and 864 Women).
The Socio Economic Profile of the enrolled participants is in line with the LABS and
BC entry criteria catering to the socially and economically disadvantaged group.
The areas in which the LABS students were trained are:
• IT Enabled Services
• Customer Relations and Sales
• Hospitality
• Automobile Mechanic
• Bed Side Patient Assistant
• Micro-Irrigation Technician
• Multi-Skilled Worker
• Hardware
Duration of training was as follows:
The LABS program is designed for 90 days (eight hours a day)
The ABC program runs for a year (Starts around July and ends by May)
Assessment of student learning outcomes did not take place under QUEST; instead
a Module effectiveness survey (LABS) took place. A total of 288 students and 14
facilitators were surveyed from receiving centres Chandanagar, Rajahmundry and
Nalgonda. Feedback on the level of interaction between the participants and the
distance trainers revealed that there was an energetic level of interaction as the
students were motivated and eager to learn. Therefore the level of interaction was
high.
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The Evaluation of the Effects of the Module:
Project Impact:
Findings of evaluation also revealed the following
• After post-module test was conducted, it is observed that there is considerable
improvement in mode of teaching and understanding levels of the aspirants.
• The mode of answering and responding was positively influenced by the modules.
• Students were excited to answer the questions.
Source – Secondary Data- Annual Report as sent to USAID 2005-06
Non QUEST Aspirant performance on evaluations and Views/Feedback from
drop outs with respect to reason for dropping out is not available and hence cannot
be covered in this study
Students:
� Able to concentrate better
� Interactive and energetic while responding
� Able to identify the amount of work as well as skills
involved in the job of their respective field
� Excited to know about the subject
� Learning made easy and interesting
� Effective learning due to the audio-visual impact
Facilitators:
� Teaching made easy
� Able to concentrate on every student
� Able to cover more information in a given time
� Motivating to conduct classes due to active
participation of the students
� Comfortable with teaching
� Educating by virtual experience
� Even a below average student can cope with the
learning
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
26
Social Book Keeping Indicators Activity 3
Quantitative Qualitative
# of monthly review
meetings
Feedback from
the participants in
the meetings
Quarterly meetings
conducted with all partners
Quality of Issues
discussed in the
meetings
# of On line monthly MIS
reports sent
Feedback on the
On line Monthly
reports
Feedback on the
other reports
# of State Level Facilitator
Review meetings held
Feedback from
the participants in
the meetings
# of Exchange visits held
with Pratham – Partner
Organization
Feedback from
the visits
Develop systems
and processes to
utilize human
resources and
infrastructure for
monitoring , status
reporting , testing
and other
communication
activities
# of Visits made by USAID Feedback from
the visits
Three Quarterly meetings were conducted with all the partners and the issues
discussed were mainly on the sharing of the program, the challenges being faced
and the probable solutions. Long term vision of QUEST was also discussed in these
meetings (Source – Secondary Data Minutes 2005-06. On line monthly MIS reports
were sent updating on the progress of the project.
Two Exchange visits were made to the Partner organization in the course of the
program while five visits were made by USAID. These visits were mainly to monitor
the progress of the project and suggestions were also provided to enhance the
effectiveness of the program. (Source: Interview with staff)
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
27
FEEDBACK COMMENTARY: QUEST
• Distance education helps facilitator perform better and support in reaching out to a
larger number of youths
• % of digitization of the course content is small
• There was no evaluation study conducted for the ABC students
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
28
SCOPE
INTRODUCTION :
The mission of SCOPE is improving the competencies of the school and community
towards access to quality education for all children and utilizing the school as a
community learning resource centre by bringing in the community context into
learning, helping students learn and grow while at the same time providing for
school supporting and strengthening the collective learning of their families and
communities as well.
SCOPE MISSION
To improve quality of school education by mainstreaming DRF innovations,
implemented with the focus on underprivileged groups.
SCOPE VALUES
o Need to give back to society
o Catalysing innovative and sustainable change
o Mentoring private and public enterprise and facilitating transfer of successful
business practices, skills and resources to benefit non-profit initiatives
SCOPE OBJECTIVES
• To refine, apply and scale-up innovative strategies for improving the quality of
Government school education.
• To document and disseminate strategies for school improvement.
• To facilitate and promote overall institutional capacities.
STAKEHOLDERS FOR SCOPE :
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
29
Key Stakeholders Other Stakeholders
(Consulted) (Not Consulted)
Students Other NGO’s working on Issues related to Education
Teachers Community Organizations
Staff
Community Volunteers
Government
Parents
Aga Khan Foundation ( Partner )
Community
SCOPE: REPORT ON PERFORMANCE
The Genesis of SCOPE:
SCOPE (School Community Partnership in Education) project is supported by an
EC-Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) as part of PESLE (Program for Enrichment of
School Level Education).
The 'Learning' arm of DRF's interventions, primarily through the SCOPE Projects,
aims at mainstreaming DRF innovations within Government schools with a focus on
underprivileged groups. This is accomplished by building basic skills through
educational interventions among children as well as by enhancing the vocational
relevance of the curriculum for older children with the support of the local
community. SCOPE envisages strategies for school effectiveness to be
implemented in government schools. The ABC component within SCOPE plays a
vital link-role in establishing a connection between ‘Learning’ and ‘Livelihood’
sectors of DRF’s work. SCOPE involves three fundamental focus areas, namely
• Access,
• Developing Community Support Systems for Schooling.
• Whole School Competency Development
Lastly, sections on other focuses of the Education wing are indicated to explicate
the entire range of activities undertaken by the Scope interventions.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
30
S.
No
Programme No of
Schools/
Centres
Location Number
of
Childre
n
1 Interventions in
Government
Schools
57
Schools
15
Schools
Balanagar mandal,
Rangareddy dt
Hyderabad &
Secunderabad
32,792
2 Intervention in
Tribal Schools
32
schools
V.R.Puram
mandal, Khammam
3,633
3 Kallam Anji
Reddy
Vidyalaya
1 School Madinaguda,
Hyderabad
1,400
4 Vocational
College
1 School Madinaguda,
Hyderabad
5 Adolescent
Bridge Course
7 Centres Hyderabad 851
6 Short term
Vocational
Course
1 Centre Kawadiguda,
Hyderabad
350
7 Residential
Bridge Course
Centre
2 Centres Sevalalnagar
Tanda, Moosapet,
Balanagar mandal
75
8 Early
Childhood
Centres
19
Centres
Balanagar mandal,
Rangareddy Dt
Andhra Pradesh
1463
Table: Range of Courses and Centres Functioning under DRF’s Education Wing.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
31
Methodology:
STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED FOR SCOPE 2005-06
STAKEHOLDERS TOTAL NUMBER SAMPLE CRITERIA FOR SELECTION METHODOLOGY
Students ( Government schools Balanagar ) 5000 238
Approximately 5% of the sample was selected , the sample was then stratified across 8 clusters and 30 students each . Questionnaire
Students - Tribal 3000 82
Approximately 3% of the sample was selected, students across 13 schools were covered Questionnaire
Students - ABC 1000 40 4% of the sample was selected as per Mandal Questionnaire
Others -RBC Students 100 10 10% of the sample was selected as per convenience Questionnaire
NRBC 700 30 Approximately 5% of the sample was selected as per convenience. Questionnaire
SVC 100 30 30% of the sample was selected as per Mandal Questionnaire
TOTAL STUDENTS COVERED 9900 430
Teachers 130 11 Approximately 8% of the sample was selected as per convenience. Questionnaire
Teachers - Tribal 130 9 Approximately 7% of the sample was selected as per convenience. Questionnaire
TOTAL TEACHERS 260 20 Approximately 8% of the sample was selected as per convenience
TRIBAL SCHOOLS IN KHAMMAM
Community Volunteers 10 6 6% of the sample was selected as per convenience Questionnaire
BSC 1 Homogenous groups FGD
Community 1 Homogenous groups FGD
SDC 2 Homogenous groups FGD
BALANAGAR MANDAL
Vidya Volunteers 120 3 Approximately 3% of the sample was selected as per convenience Questionnaire
Community Volunteers 110 5 Approximately 5% of the sample was selected as per convenience Questionnaire
Parents 1 Parents of ABC children FGD
BSC 70 1 Homogenous groups FGD
SDC 1 Homogenous groups FGD
STAFF
FIELD STAFF
Tribal Staff 7 7 All were covered Questionnaire
ABC Staff 52 4 Approximately 8% of the sample was selected as per convenience Questionnaire
SVC Staff 5 4 Approximately 80% of the sample was selected as per convenience Questionnaire
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
32
Other Field staff 29 17 Approximately 58% of the sample was selected as per convenience Questionnaire
HEAD OFFICE STAFF
Head Office staff 8 8 Approximately 56% of the sample was selected as per convenience Questionnaire
TOTAL STAFF 101 33
GOVERNMENT
SPD 1 1 Only 1 for Andhra Pradesh Interview
MEO 2 2 As per Mandal Interview
MRP 3 3 As per Mandal Interview
PARTNER
AKF 1 1 The programme Officer was contacted Interview
Objective-Wise Analysis of SCOPE.
Objective 1: To develop strategies for school effectiveness to be implemented
in government schools.
Social Book Keeping Indicators Activity I. a
Quantitative Qualitative
Number of Bastis
covered
Number of out of
school and never been
to school children
identified
Creating
awareness in the
community on
importance of
child education
Number of children
who participated in
child labour melas
Identification of and
sensitising the out of
school children in the
age group of 5-14
years
Number of child labour
melas conducted in the
community
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
33
Number of community
level meetings
Description of
groups attending
community
meetings
Number of children
who participated the
Child Education rallies
Issues discussed
at the community
meetings
Students profile
(Cultural workshop)
Follow up of
activities related
to cultural
workshop
Number of children
who attend the Cultural
workshop
Number of
performances in the
workshop by the
children
Door to door surveys were conducted in 170 communities/bastis (As per the survey
conducted by the SCOPE team in Balanagar Mandal.) and nearly 4000 out of school
and never been to school children were identified during May 2006 (Secondary
Data, Head Office). In the VR Puram of Khammam district a village household study
was conducted covering 8 villages by the students of Social Work, Secunderabad,
as a part of their field placement and reported to DRF. Community level meetings
with leaders, youth, mahila mandal members and parents are organized in every
slum to discuss ways to include out of school children identified in the survey to
schools and strategies to be adopted to bring working children to schools. This
creates awareness in the community about the importance of child education (Half-
yearly Report for AKF, January-June 2006).
Creating Awareness In The Community On Importance Of Child Education
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34
Creating awareness in the
Community - Sample covered
CVs
53%
Local
Community
32%
SVC Staff
15%
Sources: Primary Data, Stakeholders- SVC Children
.
Creating awareness in the community about the importance of child education is
crucial especially in the context of children who tend to drop out of school or who’ve
never been to school in a community. For Short Term Vocational Course children,
the main source of knowledge for this course is from Community Volunteers (53%),
followed by the local community (32%).
Purpose of the project
quality
education
28%
community
support
28%
awareness
33%
material
developme
nt
11%
Sources: Primary Data, Stakeholders- Staff
The staff felt that the purpose of the project was spread evenly between providing
quality education and community support, while 33% of those sampled felt that
awareness was the purpose of the project.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
35
Creating Awareness in the
Community
stakeholder
engagemen
t
37%community
meetings
58%
awareness
5%
Sources: Primary Data, Stakeholders- Staff
58% of the staff felt that in order to create more awareness in the community,
community meetings were crucial, whereas 37% felt that stakeholder engagement
would help create more awareness in the community. This would imply more active
community engagement.
Creating Awareness in the
Community
provide
training &
livelyhoods
70%
community
meetings
30%
Sources: Primary Data, Stakeholders- SVC Staff
In order to create more awareness about the importance of child education in the
community, 70% of the SVC staff felt that providing training and livelihoods was
essential while the rest thought community meetings would be sufficient for this
purpose.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
36
Ways through which awareness
maybe created in the community
meetings
Awareness
drives/rallie
s
29%
Sustainabilit
y of efforts
6%
community
meetings
36%
Stake
holder
engagement
29%
Sources: Primary Data, Stakeholders- Tribal Staff
According to the Tribal staff, community meetings are vital in order to create
awareness in the community about education followed by stakeholder engagement
and awareness drives/rallies.
Two hundred children attended the Child Labour Mela (Community Organizer
Reports). This mela was conducted at cluster level by bringing all out of school
children identified in the survey to a common place. Cluster level meets were
organized in 5 clusters with drop out, never enrolled, 5+ age group who need to be
admitted in schools, NRBC & Alternate school children nearly 200 children were
brought for one day and engaged in cultural activities and drawing (Half-yearly
Report for AKF, January-June 2006). MEO, govt. teachers and local leaders,
attended these melas as it coincided with the Badi Bata Programme of SSA.
To bring in awareness in the community on importance of Child Education Rallies
were conducted in all the bastis of Balanagar mandal, with 200 children in
attendance, (Head Office Data). Through these rallies communities came forward
and supported the activity by identifying and enrolling non school going children into
the schools. Community Level Meetings were held on a need-based basis. Parents,
project participants and facilitators were the groups present in the meetings (Half-
yearly Report for Aga Khan Foundation, January-June 2006).
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
37
Issues Discussed At The Community Meetings
Issues discussed in the community
meetings: Staff
Attendance
of children
45%
community
involvemen
t
50%
infrastructu
re
5%
Sources: Primary Data, Stakeholders- Staff
Issues discussed in the Community meetings: Staff
The staff discussed community involvement the most followed by attendance of
children. Infrastructure was not discussed in great detail by this group.
Sources: Primary Data, Stakeholders-SVC Staff
Issues discussed by SVC staff revolved equally around Duration of courses, about
employment and criteria of age groups. To a lesser extent, they discussed education
and livelihood program’s and community involvement.
Issues discussed in the community
meetings: SVC Staff
druartion of
courses
25%
Community
involvemen
t
13%
Criteria of
age frops
24%Education &
livelyhood
program
13%
About
employmen
t
25%
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
38
Issues Discussed By Volunteers Within The Community.
Issues discussed in the community
meetings: Volunteers
Absenteeis
m
18%
Importance
of
Education,
18%
Funds flow
13%
Peer
Presure
13%
Health
issues
19%
Discipline
19%
Sources: Primary Data, Stakeholders- Volunteers
To an equal extent, volunteers discussed health issues, discipline, importance of
education and absenteeism. To a lesser extent, they discussed peer pressure for
students and funds flow. This indicates that volunteers tend to have a holistic
approach in their endeavours and concerns.
Sources: Primary Data, Stakeholders- Tribal Staff
Tribal staff discussed enrolment and attendance to an equal extent. To a lesser
extent they discussed issues pertaining to student retention and drop-out rates,
thereby indicating that issues connected with retention were pivotal for tribal staff.
Issues Discussed In the Community by Community Volunteers.
Issues discussed in the community
meetings: Tribal Staff
Attendence
31%
Enrolment
31%
Dropout
15%Retention
23%
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
39
Almost all community volunteers discussed the attendance regularity at school for
children.
Students profile (Cultural workshop)
Cultural workshop was conducted at Kukkatpally and Hasmathpet clusters of
Balanagar mandal covering all the 170 slums. The main objective of the cultural
workshop was to teach children to play musical instrument like drums and sing
songs who further would involve in child to child mobilization of children to schools.
The students were between III and V standard and were nine to 13 years old (Head
Office Data).
Student's Participation in Cultural
Workshop
Yes
61%
No
39%
Sources: Primary Data, Stakeholders-Students in Government schools
Student’s Participation in Cultural Workshop
Students tended to participate in games and competitions followed by non-
participation (20%) and cultural performances.
Follow Up Of Activities Related To Cultural Workshop
There was training (sing, dance play instruments) after cultural workshop; around
96% of the sample attended the training
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
40
Social Book Keeping Indicators Activity I. b
Quantitative Qualitative
% of community
volunteers trained
Composition of the
Basti School
Committee
Number of Basti School
committees
Issues discussed
in the committee
Number of youth groups
formed
No of Summer schools
run in the Government
schools
No of Non- school going
children who attend
summer schools
Community mobilization
for strengthening the
government schools.
No and periodicity of
parent meetings
Feedback of
parents in the
meetings
The percentage of community volunteers trained was hundred indicating good
coverage, and there were 102 basti school committees in operation. The Basti
Schooling Committee is a forum for active members of the community who have
interest in education of children, and meets once a month. It takes responsibility for
schooling for all children in the slum, as well as acting as a pressure group to
withdraw children from work. It strengthens relations between community and
school, and this committee works as a task force for eliminating child labour. By
beginning of the year 110 Community volunteers were place, trained and covering
170 communities.
All the community volunteers were given training in community mobilization, starting
of reading clubs, enrollment of children into schools, regular follow up of long
absentees. These volunteers formed 70 Basti Schooling Committees by 30th March.
This number of BSC was reduced to 70 from 102 as based on the functioning of the
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
41
BSC’s in the area. Community awareness programme was taken up in majority of
the bastis on child labour issues, reading habits of children and support mechanisms
in communities for the education of the children. Two day training for basti schooling
committee members through Central Board for Workers Education on March 16th.
No information on the number of youth groups functioning was found.
52 Summer Schools were run in Government Schools under the auspices of
SCOPE (Half-yearly Report for AKF, January-June 2006). The number of non-
school going children who attend the Summer School was 1500 and the list of these
children is available in the office.
Number and Periodicity Of Parent Meetings
Parent meetings in government schools take place on a monthly basis, and 12 such
meetings have taken place (Primary Data). Tribal Volunteers mention that parent
meetings take place monthly. Parents have a marginal role in the BSC, and it was
felt in feedback that their role could be improved.
Social Book Keeping Indicators Activity 1 c
Quantitative Qualitative
% of children attending
schools regularly
Attendance
stabilization
Follow up
activities through
house visits
% of children who
appear for the
assessment
Retention.
% of children who
cleared the
assessment in the
schools
Grades
Achieved.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
42
Percentage of children attending schools regularly could not be made available in
the 3social accounts the as a part of the secondary data collection at Head office as
was details about attendance stabilisation. DRF Staff regularly visit parents at home
in order to follow-up on drives to retain students. Of the 8, 877 students who
appeared at the primary level assessment, 7, 891 students were promoted which
indicates a pass-percentage of 89%. Girls and Boys had approximately equal pass-
percentages with 88% and 90% respectively (CMIS Report No. 3. 8. 2 a).
Activity 1 d Quantitative Qualitative
No of
Primers
developed
by DRF
Feedback on primers from
stakeholders as well as external
resource persons
No of books
distributed
in the
schools
Library
books
Provision of class
room learning
material for
i ) Primary School
children
No of
teachers
who
participated
in the
workshops
to help in
the material
developmen
t
ii) for High School
children
No of
Primers
developed
by DRF
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
43
No of books
distributed
in the
schools
Library
books
No of
Primers
developed
by DRF in
Koya and
Konda
script
Feedback on primers from
stakeholders as well as external
resource persons
# of
workshops
held for the
developmen
t of primers
# of
Supplement
ary books
developed
# of
Reading
books
distributed
in the
schools
iii) Development
of primers and
supplementary
reading material
for tribal schools
No of
Primers
developed
by DRF
Feedback on primers from
stakeholders as well as external
resource persons?
To help primary school children achieve basic competencies for their respective
classes, primers were developed under the auspices of SCOPE. These are as
follows:
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
44
1. Katha Kalamu.
2. Padapandari.
3. Geethalatho Gammattu for class 1 and 2.
4. Andamayna Aksharamu.
5. Flashcards.
6. Exit Level Question Papers.
7. Workbook for EVS for 1 and 2 (Chuttoo Chooddaam).
8. Easy English.
9. Krityamaalika for class 1 and 5.
10. Kathakaalamu-teachers resource book.
11. Library Material.
Feedback on primers is important, and stakeholders and users of the primers can
provide valuable insight about the direction taken by developing these primers. The
endeavour in the following section will be to look at some of the reactions to these
primers.
Rating of primers
Good
89%
Average
11%
Sources: Primary Data, Stakeholders- Staff
Around 90% of the project staff felt that primers were good, and three-fourth’s of
government teachers felt that the primers were good, although the sample size was
relatively small .250 books were distributed in school libraries. Around 90% of the
teachers participated in material development.
DRF provides school books such as guides and model papers to high school
children. They do not have primers for children studying in High School.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
45
An interview with Mr Vijay Prakash (MEO Balanagar Mandal)
The achievement of DRF against the
mission has been successful. His
feedback on the primers was satisfactory
and he also mentioned that migration was
another challenge faced among the
children who belonged to districts and
tend to drop out easily.
Interview with MEO (Balanagar Mandal)
Tribal Educational Initiatives
SCOPE has developed two primers and seven supplementary books for tribal
students in the Koya and the Kondareddy dialect. This enables students to identify
the course-work in their native language enabling better grasp of the study-material.
They include:
Primers
1 Koya Vachakam
2 Kondareddy Vachakam
Supplementary Books
1 Medicose- Koya book of poems
2 Vippana Katha- Riddles for Koya’s
3 Vesody- Koya stories
4 Owjans- Kondareddy poems
5 Doki- Flashbooks for Koya’s
6 Gurugulu- Flashbooks for
Kondareddy’s Children in Tribal school (Khammam )
7 Zitellu- Riddles for Kondareddy.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
46
Feedback on primers (Tribal) from stakeholders as well as external resource
persons
Suggestion for further
improvement in primers
More
Pictures
20%
Demonstr
ative
illustration
s
20%
Good for
weak
Students
30%
New
Books &
Material
30%
Sources: Primary Data, Stakeholders- Tribal Teachers
Tribal teachers suggested new books and materials and that the existing material
was good only for weak students to an equal extent (30%).
Rating of primers
Good
86%
Supplemen
tary
material is
better
14%
Sources: Primary Data, Stakeholders- Tribal Staff
Tribal staff largely felt that the primers were good, and a small minority felt that the
supplementary material was better.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
47
Tribal Students like to use the
Primers
Yes
91%
Don’t Know
about
primers
7%No
2%
Sources: Primary Data, Stakeholders- Tribal Students
Tribal students liked the primers used, and few people mentioned not knowing the
primers or not liking it.
Tribal students like best about the
primers
Medicos
21%
Vesodi
20%
Aavujam
2%
Pictures &
Stories
14%Koya Reddy
Vachakam
43%
Sources: Primary Data, Stakeholders- Tribal Students
Almost half of the tribal students liked the Koya Reddy Vachakam, followed by
Vesodi and Aavujam (approximately 20%) and lastly pictures and stories (14%). As
far as suggestions for changes is concerned, tribal students asked for more stories
(46%) and new books (43%) and 11% asked for more pictures.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
48
Any Suggestion for changes
New books
43%
Stories
46%
More
pictures
11%
Sources: Primary Data, Stakeholders- Tribal Students
Social Book Keeping Indicators Activity 1 e
Quantitative Qualitative
No. and periodicity of
meetings held with
SDC
Issues discussed
in the meetings
Range of activities
covered by SDC
Follow-up on the
review plans
Vision realization
process in government
schools.
School profiles
developed by schools
Feedback on the
School profiles
Range of Activities Covered by SDC
School Development Committee meetings are held at least twice a year and more if
needed (Secondary Data). The major activities undertaken by the SDC is to
approach donors in order to pay salaries for qualified additional teaching staff in the
School. Their main task is mobilizing resources and hence the major need is to
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
49
concentrate on school-infrastructure such as toilets and seating arrangements for
students. School quality is discussed in their meetings, as is the issue of education
for girls and child labour.
Activities of School Development
committee:Teachers
Resource
Mobilization
73%
Cultural
Activities
9%Infrastructu
re
18%
Sources: Primary Data, Stakeholders-Government Teachers
According to Teachers (sample size = 11), resource mobilisation is the main activity
carried out by the SDC. Infrastructure was mentioned by two teachers and one
teacher mentioned cultural activities.
Criteria For Evaluating School Development Committee
1. Frequency of Meetings
2. Participation of SDC members in parents meetings
3. Number of members attending meetings regularly.
4. Number of members participating in vision realization/If the school does
not have vision
5. Other achievements made by the SDC.
School Profile Developed By Schools Constitutes:
• School information
• SDC information
• School events
• Schools Achievements
• Genesis of the school
• School vision
• BSC
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
50
School vision: Old Bowenpally
School Profiles
School Profiles were printed and distributed in the project schools for community
dissemination. The school profiles include the history of the school and
achievements during the program period in terms of learning improvement, Vision
realization, local resource mobilization etc.
Feedback on School Profiles:
Feedback on School Profile
Informatio
n about
school
57%
Awareness
43%
Sources: Primary Data, Stakeholders- Head Teachers
Head Teachers felt that school profiles concerned information about school (57%)
and about awareness (43%).
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
51
Social Book Keeping Indicators Activity 1 f
Quantitative Qualitative
Number of newsletters
published
Feedback from
the stakeholders
on the project
learning
No of articles
contributed by the
children and teachers
Quality of the
articles
Dissemination of
project learning’s
through news letter.
Range/# of different
stakeholders covered
by the distribution list
Newsletters were meant to be published monthly, but there have been 5 published
in Telugu – 2 for teachers and 3 for children in the last year.
As far as the quality of the newsletter is concerned, it has not been reported for in
this year’s social accounts mainly due to the lack of awareness regarding the
newsletters among the sample covered.The range of stakeholders covered is
available in the distribution list .There is again no information pertaining to the
number of articles covered by teachers and children.
Feedback from Stakeholders on Project Learning
Issues from government programs included adolescent education, low competency
level of government school children, enrolling all the out of school children. Also
important in this segment is the need to improve learning abilities in children,
academic issues vis-à-vis Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan( SSA) , need to improve child
language and arithmetic abilities primary level, girl child motivation.
Meeting discussions focussed on child education, withdrawing children from work,
attendance of children, resource support for schools, community mobilisation,
mainstreaming, library establishment, regarding parent’s involvement in the school
system, saving child rights and improvement. Infrastructure, physical-human
resources, need for community involvement in schools, basic competencies of
children in schools and attendance.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
52
Inputs from DRF Trainings.
Documentation working, Roles and responsibilities of school, helping to work as a
member of team, understand the strategy of the program, preparation of material,
SCOPE,PESLE,SIP,LIP,QUEST, involve community in our programme. Information
about the number of articles contributed by teachers and students is not available.
Objective 2: To create better opportunity for future among Young adults (12-
18 yrs)
Social Book keeping Indicators Activity 2 a
Quantitative Qualitative
# of children
mobilized in the ABC
centres
SEP profile of the
children in the ABC
centres
Gender ratio
Ratio of
supplementary
students attending
ABC : first timers
attending ABC
Mobilizing Children
for ABC centres
Ratio of working
children : non
working children
No of materials
developed for the
ABC centres
Materials adopted
by the teachers
Academic Support
Assessment %of children who
pass Class VII and X
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
53
# of children
appearing for Class
VII and Class X
examination
No of children
tracked who fail to
qualify the
assessment
Follow-up
No of children who
attend the camps to
cope up with the
Backlogs in subjects
1038 children were mobilised in the Adolescent Bridge Course centres.
SEP profile of the children in the Adolescent Bridge Course centres
ABC Center : Gender-wise break up
Gender Total %
Girls 687 66.76
Boys 342 33.24
Total 1029 100.00
The gender break-up in the ABC Schools revealed that the population totals were
weighted in favour of girls (two-thirds), revealing a commendable emphasis on
education for women. A majority of these incumbents were between the ages of 12-
14 years (sample size = 441, 42.86%), followed by equal numbers for age-
categories 15-16 years and 17 and above (28%) out of a total of 1029 students.
Data about the ratio of supplementary students attending ABC with first timers
attending ABC was collected by centre records, as was the ratio of working children
with non working children. All in one guides were developed for the ABC centres.
Materials Adopted by Teachers:
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
54
All ABC teachers interviewed mentioned that they had incorporated the material and
methodology into their everyday practise of teaching. They felt that evolving stories
from katha kaalam as well as environmental sciences were especially useful in their
pedagogy.
Assessment and Follow up of Children
The percentage of children who pass Class VII and X is 75%and 35% respectively.
The number of children appearing for Class VII and Class X examination are 366
and 446. The number of children tracked who fail to qualify the assessment are 83 in
Class VII and 290 in Class X. The number of children who attend camps to cope
with backlogs in subject-portions are 239.
Social Book keeping Indicators Activity 2 b
Quantitative Qualitative
Number of persons
attending the Road
shows
Socio-economic
profile of youth
Number of youths
who participate in the
interest inventory test
New courses
identified
Number of youths
who participate in the
training
Confidence of the
youths after they are
placed
No of materials
developed
% of youth/aspirants
placed in the industry
( B2Y networking)
Providing
opportunities to the
youth for better
career through SVCs
No of Alumni meets
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
55
No of workshops
with external
resource persons /
industry
Participation in Road shows 775
Participation in Interest Inventory
Test
442
Number of youths participating in
trainings
357
Number of youths placed in the
Industry
304
Source: Secondary data: SVC
According to the centre reports, 775 persons attended the road shows and they
were from lower income groups .442 youths participated in the interest inventory
test, while 357 persons participated in the training. No new courses were identified.
Most of them reported that they anticipated a bright future ahead of them where they
could develop their careers. 304 youths/aspirants were placed in industry as part of
the Business-2-Youth (B2Y) networking program. Two alumni meets were held for
the benefit of the aspirants where they could interact with individuals who passed
out of the programs and 28 workshops were held with external resource
persons/industry as a part of the B2Y network
Objective 3. Capacity building of Government agencies enhanced to enable
School to adopt and promote School Effectiveness Strategies and Impart
Quality Education:
Activity 3 a Social Book keeping Indicators
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
56
Quantitative Qualitative
No/% of Vidya
Volunteers who
participate in the
training programmes
No of trainings
programmes held
Feedback of the
training programmes
Types of training
programmes
Development of
capacities of Vidya
volunteers
Attendance break up
of the volunteers (
duration & day )
Influence on
pedagogical
methodologies used
by teachers
Vidya Volunteers provide informal facilitation to the students in the government
schools
The 3 Vidya Volunteers mentioned that they had undergone training programs
(100%), although the data regarding the number of training programmes held was
not available. Most volunteers sampled thought that the training could be graded
between ‘good’ and ‘excellent’, although the sample size for this data is minute The
training concerned ‘Teaching Methodology on Primers’. Regarding the influence on
pedagogical methodologies used by teachers, all the Vidya Volunteers sampled
reported that the methodologies learnt was later used in teaching. The data
regarding the attendance break-up for the volunteers was submitted to the accounts
department and not available for reporting.
Social Book keeping Indicators Activity 3 b
Quantitative Qualitative
No of Teacher meets
organized at cluster
level
Influence on
pedagogical
methodologies used
by teachers
Capacity building of
teachers
Types of trainings
programmes
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
57
Number of need
based Teachers
Meets
No of Teacher meets
organized at mandal
level
Feedback from the
teachers
% of teachers
participating in
teacher meets
Teacher meets at the cluster level were organised once a month. Training programs
for teachers sought to provide academic support in relation to material development.
There is a monthly need-based teacher’s meet in which DRF participates. Monthly
teacher’s meets are also organised at the mandal level. There is a teacher
representing each school in the teachers meets. The government teachers reported
having used the methodologies learnt during the intervention as revealed in the
primary data collection. Feedback from the teachers indicated that the teachers
meet was useful, and it included elements such as sharing of experiences, sharing
of academic problems, discussion about school improvement and how to reduce
dropouts.( Source: Primary data – Government Teachers)
Interaction with Government Teachers and Vidya Volunteer. : Shamshiguda
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58
Social Book keeping Indicators Activity 3 c
Quantitative Qualitative
No/% of teachers
who participate in the
trainings
programmes
Influence on
pedagogical
methodologies used
by teachers
No of training
programmes held
Feedback from the
training programmes
Capacity building of
teachers in ABC
centres
Types of training
programmes
95% of teachers in ABC centres participate in the training programs. All teachers
were influenced by the pedagogical methodologies used by teachers. One training
program was held for teachers in the ABC centres. All teachers rated the training
programs in a positive light. The training programs focussed on community
participation, activity based teaching in classroom, retention of children in centres,
and an exposure visit for the teachers to interact with children. A child dropping-out
is a challenge for teachers in ABC centres, and hence these activities become
contextually important.
Objective 4: .Policy-makers and other decision makers are informed and
through Advocacy, influenced to change attitudes, values and concerns for
adoption of School based education Reform Strategies.
Social Book keeping Indicators Activity 4
Quantitative Qualitative
# of networking
exercises( inc
exchange programs
,MTR , interactive
sessions etc ) held
Minutes / findings of
the Annual
Conference on
Whole school
development network
Stakeholder
engagement through
interactive forums
and activities.
# of monthly
newsletter distributed
Quality of the
content of the
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
59
to the stakeholders newsletter
No of meetings held
with the Government
officials
No of workshops
held on project
related activities
Participation in other
Govt related
programs
A number of networking exercises such as Mid Term Review (MTR), exchange
programs, interactive sessions also take place in order to engage with stakeholders.
One MTR has taken place in this calendar year. The annual conference on Whole
School Development Network is akin to an annual reflection exercise with a fete-like
atmosphere and 1300 children in attendance. Newsletters are distributed to
stakeholders quarterly. The quality of the content of the newsletter was not asked as
the newsletter was not sent. Three meetings were held with government officials in
order to avoid duplication and overlap with government programs. The number of
project related workshops is the same as the number of academic and community
related workshops for the staff and the teachers .For the latter, the focus is on
academic support / methodology while community mobilization being the focus in
the workshops conducted for staff and Community Volunteers.
Participation in other Govt related programs
Fifteen out of eighteen teachers had attended government programmes connected
with adolescent education, low competency levels of government school children,
enrolling all the out of school children, academic issues vis-à-vis the SSA, to
improve the three R's among children and motivating girls to study.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
60
Objective 5: Technical and Institutional Capacity built in partner NGOs to
continue replication of successful school effectiveness strategies and
promote school based education reform
Social Book keeping Indicators Activity 5
Quantitative Qualitative
No of Staff Reviews
Periodicity of reviews
Feedback from the
review
Orientation by
External Resource
Persons
No of trainings
programmes held
Types of training
programmes
Changes
incorporated from the
Planning workshops
Attendance break up
of the staff Reports
no of exposure visits
Feedback from the
review
Professional
development of staff
through trainings and
exposure visits
No of workshops
held.
According to HR data, there have been 12 staff reviews with one taking place every
month.
Feedback from the review
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61
Sources: Primary Data, Stakeholders- Staff
Although the sample size is small, 94% of those interviewed felt that staff reviews
were beneficial. The staff review focussed on issues such as the project, sharing of
experiences and feedback. External Resource Persons (ERP) held three programs
on mobilization, documentation and professional development of staff. The team
members have regular meetings with ERPs from MV Foundation to develop
strategies which are effective at the field level. The team members were given two
days orientation on development of worksheets for the LG I. The team has now
developed more than 120 worksheets which include activities pertaining to the
lesson plans. On day one, the staff at Chandanagar campus was taught games and
activities which would be useful for field level functionaries to use in schools and the
community.
Two member teams attended one-day workshops on Action Research conducted by
AKES-I, Hyderabad and the emerging difficulties in classrooms. There were number
of training programs held was not available for the Accounts. The types of training
program included material development with reference to classroom curriculum and
refresher-retraining for teachers. The attendance break-up of the staff was submitted
to the accounts section and unavailable for inclusion in the social audit. The
feedback from the review was with reference to sharing of experiences, feedback
and about the project, as depicted below:
Are staff reviews beneficial: Staff?
Yes
94%
No 6%
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62
Sources: Primary Data, Stakeholders- Staff
The staff reported that the review concerned the project (40%), while others felt that
the review was about sharing experiences (30%) and a feedback mechanism (30%).
Social Book keeping Indicators Activity 6
Quantitative Qualitative
No of monitoring
visits made by AKF
Views of the visitors
regarding the existing
programme
No of reports
submitted to AKF
No of exchange
visits to Partner
NGOs
Feedback in the
visits
Types and periodicity
of reports
Internal and external
monitoring and
review
# and frequency of
review meetings
Aga Khan Foundation has made 12 monitoring visits, and the Program Officer at
AKF Mr. Sanjay Tiwari has expressed satisfaction with the progress of the project,
however the pedagogy needed improvement. He also stated that the quality of
reporting had not been adequate as compared to the earlier ones and hence would
like DRF to provide a more comprehensive picture about the project. According to
Issues of the staff review
Sharing of
Experiences
30%
About Project 40%
Feedback
30%
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
63
him, the primers used were good. He also mentioned that SDC’s are a unique forum
for actual participation and the class committees have also been an innovative forum
for children participation. He also expressed that the main aim of this project is to
make “a Government School the preferred school for a child in the
community”. Lastly he articulated that there is still a scope to do better and that
community involvement needs to be enhanced by DRF. However in terms of
achieving the mission, performance of DRF has been successful.
Four reports have been submitted to AKF, and there have been five visits to partner
NGO’s. With reference to number and periodicity of reports, a quarterly progress
report and annual MIS reports have been submitted. There is a monthly review
meeting with reference to frequency of review meetings. Internally, three workshops
have been held for teachers, Vidya Volunteers and Community Volunteers with the
aim of providing academic support. 80 government teachers were involved with
curriculum development in this workshop. Mobililisation was the main theme of the
workshop for community volunteers. There was a workshop for professional
development for SCOPE staff
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
64
FEEDBACK COMMENTARY: SCOPE
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT:
There is a large role played by SCOPE in the area of community participation which
is also reflected in the Social Accounts. There is active involvement of the School
Development Committee and Basti Schooling Committee in the functioning of the
school as facilitated by SCOPE. The SCOPE Staff is also proactive in maintaining
good relationship with its stakeholders especially in the Grass root level. A special
mention should be also made about the community support staffs that have been
instrumental in building a good rapport with the community.
ACTIVITY – RESULTS GAP
It maybe mentioned that although there are a large number of activities aligned with
the project, the results or the outcomes are not as lucid as the process itself. If
dissemination of the results or project outcomes take place in a more structured
way, this will enhance the overall functioning of the project as well as contribute in
the achievements of the goal.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
65
LIVELIHOODS ADVANCEMENT SCHOOL (LABS)
INTRODUCTION:
LABS in a very simple and systematic manner attempts to match the demands of
the industry with the potential of LABS aspirants. It offers path-breaking job oriented
training courses to youth who have barely reached high school levels of formal
education and prepares them for entry- level jobs in various industrial sectors
LABS MISSION:
“LABS aim to provide young adults from economically weak backgrounds an
opportunity to assimilate into the competitive job market. LABS will help them
acquire the required livelihood and a social skill in an environment of learning and
mentoring that is responsive to the individual’s emotional and developmental needs”
LABS OBJECTIVES
The LABS aim is sustainable livelihoods creation. To achieve this, these are our
basic criteria or objectives.
o To Provide market based opportunity/access to opportunity
o To cater to youth from economically and educationally weak backgrounds
o To be responsive to the youth’s emotional and development needs
o To improve the quality of life of such youth and their families
o To foster an environment of learning and mentoring
LABS VALUES
o Need to give back to society
o Catalysing innovative and sustainable change
o Mentoring private and public enterprise and facilitating transfer of successful
business practices, skills and resources to benefit non-profit initiatives.
.
LABS STAKEHOLDERS:
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66
Key Stakeholders Other Stakeholders
(Consulted) (Not Consulted)
Aspirants Other NGO’s working on
Livelihoods
Aspirants’ Families Community Organizations
Industry/Employers Dr Reddy’s Staff
Local Neighbourhood * Volunteers
Partners* Government*
Trustees
Staff/ Employees
*Government is defined as the relevant departments/programs in the Government that work
on employment generation, poverty alleviation etc.
*Partners are defined as funding partners who have supported LABS projects during the
year.
*Community Organizations are those that help us with mobilization on the field across
locations. *Local Neighbourhood respondents are the immediate neighbours
The LABS data collection and report compilation was done by Poverty Learning
Foundation, an external agency.
The Report on Performance is not in the format of the Social Audit framework. It is
in the report format as used by Poverty Learning Foundation keeping intact the flow
in the writing All the information, however has been presented in a logical and a
lucid manner
Towards the end of the report, the framework has been summarized along with the
coding for performance.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
67
Section 1 - Introduction
1.1 LABS are a new-economy livelihood promotion-training programme. It targets the
school dropouts/ unemployed with secondary school qualification/ street youth/
retrenched workers/ migrant youth/ resettlement community members from the poorest 15
per cent of the Indian population. The new emerging economy requires trained skilled
workforce at lower attrition rate who can rapidly acclimatize themselves with the work
environment. 4
1.2 DRF has started social audit in 2005 to reflect on the performance and impact of
LABS on the stakeholders directly or indirectly involved in it. (Findings of Previous year’s
Social Audit in Annexure 3) In this process DRF has sought the services of Poverty
Learning Foundation in carrying out the data collection for the Social Accounts. Poverty
Learning Foundation established in 2004 as a Trust, aims to guide development policies
and practices in a way that meets the changing aspirations of the poor people. The
objectives of this exercise were:
• To identify the impact created by LABS across the states.
• To report the achievements of the program.
• To understand change in attitude, confidence level and enhancement of livelihoods
among various stakeholders and
• To provide a direction and influence the policy at higher level to take decisions.
1.3 This report analyzes the processes, outcomes and impact of Livelihood Advancement
Business School (LABS) programme on youth. The report based on the data collected for
social accounts examines the influence of LABS on the lives of young women and men
surviving in difficult economic and social circumstances.
The study began after conducting a workshop with the senior members of the staff of DRF
.This was followed by finalization and field testing of checklists of different stakeholders.
Based on the field testing the checklists were revisited and refined. Simultaneously, study
team members were oriented and involved in Social accounts study.
4 For more information on LABS and its process, refer to the Previous Social Accounts
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68
Section 2 – Methodology
2.1 States covered: This section provides details about the methodology adopted in
conducting the study. The study covered eight states viz., Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh,
Gujarat, J & K, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
2.2: Districts covered: Keeping in view the number of aspirants covered for the year
2005-06, the number of districts to be covered was decided. For actual selection of
districts, a stratified sampling procedure was followed where the stratifying criteria include
the level of development of the district and also the partners/projects who/which are
concerned with the implementation of LABS courses, the number covered is given in the
following table:
Table 2.1 Coverage of districts and centres across the states by LABS .
Sl .No. State
Total
number of
districts
No. of
districts
covered
Total
number of
centres
No. of centres
covered
1 Andhra
Pradesh 22 10 81 22
2 Chattisgarh 7 3 14 3
3 Gujarat 4 3 4 3
4 Jammu and
Kashmir 5 2 5 2
5 Karnataka 1 1 1 1
6 Rajasthan 2 2 2 2
7 Tamil Nadu 7 3 7 3
8 Uttar
Pradesh 5 3 7 3
Total 53 27 121 39
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69
2.3: Selection of centres: From each selected district, number of centres
ranging from 1-3 was selected depending up on the number of centres that were
operating during the reference year 2005-06. While selecting centres due weight age was
given to the project/partner and also the level of development of the area where the
centre is located.
2.4: Selection of aspirants: Out of 20,000 aspirants (approximately) covered
under LABS courses in all the states during 2005-06, about 10 per cent of the aspirants
were covered for the study. The actual state-wise coverage of the aspirants is given in
table 2.2.
Table 2.2: Coverage of various categories of respondents –state-wise
Number covered for the study(1)
S.No. State
Total no.
of
aspirants
in 2005-06
aspirants 360 degrees
Employer
(Additionally
covered)
DRF staff
1 A.P 13945 1118 120 107 50
2. Chattisgarh 2316 228 28 7 11
3. Gujarat 853 146 10 9 9
4. J & K 1236 87 9 - 6
5 Karnataka 90 31 3 - 3
6 Rajasthan 561 64 7 8 4
7. Tamil Nadu 1055 127 3 - 9
8. U.P 678 118 10 2 6
Total 20734 1919* 190** 133 98***
1: As per the coverage envisaged, 10 per cent of total aspirants are to be covered. Of
the aspirants so covered, 10 per cent each of the families and neighbours, 25 per cent
employers and 5 per cent staff are to be covered.
* It may be noted that besides 1919 aspirants who were administered the aspirant
schedule, another 190 aspirants forming part of 360 degrees data were also covered.
Thus, in all, 2109 aspirants ( as against the envisaged sample coverage of 2000
aspirants) were covered for the study. All the aspirants were drawn randomly from the
sampling frame prepared in respect of each centre.
** However, from among 2109 aspirants, only those aspirants for whom the employer,
neighbour, and also the head of the household (father)/ any other elderly member of the
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
70
household were available formed part of 360 degrees sample and they are 190 in
number across all states.
*** In addition, another 13 members of the senior team at the head office are also
covered
2.5: Data collection instruments: Keeping in view the objectives set for the study, five
kinds of schedules were developed for administering in the field viz.,
• aspirant schedule
• household schedule
• neighbour schedule
• employer schedule and
• DRF staff schedule
The need for administering the first four schedules arose from the fact that besides
covering aspirants exclusively, perceptions on the entire gamut of activities from father or
any elderly person available in the household, neighbour and employer (of the aspirants)
were also planned to be captured as these members’ opinions would be useful in
shaping up the courses offered under LABS. This approach referred to as multi-
stakeholder approach, is expected to throw some light on the LABS objectives, its
implementation of the courses and also its impact on the livelihoods of the aspirants.
However, depending up on the context the actual contents of the schedules vary across
in the five instruments. For example, in the case of aspirants, the major thrust was on the
activities in which they got engaged during the post-course phase, and salary drawn
besides perceptions on various components of LABS courses. In the case of other
stakeholders including DRF staff, mainly perceptions on the implementation of LABS
programme were sought besides their suggestions for effective implementation of it.
Draft schedules were pre-tested and finalized in consultation with the DRF teams before
they were finally administered in the field. The pre-testing of the schedules helped
sharpen the questions in terms of their scope and concept. To the extent possible, many
closed ended questions were incorporated in the schedules to facilitate accurate
responses
Mock interviews were conducted among the PLF field supervisors after providing
thorough orientation on LABS courses, concepts and aims in general and the schedules
to be administered in the field in particular. This was done keeping in view the need for
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
71
reducing non-sampling errors which would other wise play havoc in large surveys of this
kind.
2.6: Data collection teams: In all, eight field teams were constituted, each team lead by
a senior Researcher from PLF side. The team leader in turn recruited field staff having
Post Graduate qualification in social sciences, mostly in consultation with the centre
facilitator/co-coordinator and they were provided with orientation on the concept of LABS.
The actual data collection was done in the field during November 13 to December 13,
2006.
2.7: Treatment of the data: Using SPSS package the data were analysed taking state
as the unit of classification. Percentages are computed to highlight the trends that
occurred in the data. Besides, a lot of cross-tabulations were generated to answer
specific questions and to study specific hypotheses. This procedure helped gain better
insights in the implementation aspects of LABS courses.
2.8: Graphical representation: To facilitate faster grasping of the trends emerging from
the data analysis, data have also been graphically represented in some cases.
2.9: Presentation of tables: It may be noted that in view of their complexity, many
tables have been included in the annexure. However, the description of trends based on
these tables is provided in the text itself. In addition, graphs are also given in the text to
facilitate faster grasping of the results.
2.10: Chapterization Plan: The Report on Performance (LABS) is organized as
follows: The entire write-up is divided in to the following sections.
Section 1: Introduction
Section 2: Methodology
Section 3: Profiles of the aspirants
Section 4: Procedures, Processes and Perceptions
Section 5: Economic and Social Impact
Section 6: Multi-Stakeholders Analysis
Section 7: Employers
Section 8: DRF LABS staff’s perceptions
Section 9: Other Views of stakeholders: Partners
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72
Section 10: Other Views of stakeholders: Trustees
Section 11: Framework coded
Section 12: Feedback Commentary
Section-3 - Profile of the Aspirants
This section provides a brief socio-economic profile of the aspirants.
3.1 Gender composition of the Sample Aspirants: Table 3.1 shows
distribution of the sample aspirants (aspirants) across the states. Males and females are
equally distributed in the sample showing that equal preference was given in selecting the
candidates for training. However, this trend is not uniformly reflected across the states-
male aspirants outnumber the female counterparts in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh (91
and 79 per cent respectively). This trend thus reflecting the male dominant society
prevalent in the mentioned states.
Graph 3.1: Percentage of aspirants-state-wise and gender-wise
4541
5862
39
91
50
79
5055
59
4238
62
9
50
21
50
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
AP
CG
Gu
jrat
J&
K
Karn
ata
ka
Raja
sth
an
TN
UP
To
tal
Perc
en
tag
e o
f T
rain
ees
Male Female
Introduction of BSPA has direct influence on the proportion of females covered in each
state (table 3.2). Therefore, states with BSPA, ITES and CRS courses have more
chances of covering females.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
73
Women oriented courses.
Sunitha kumari is from Ferozabad city famous for its glass making industry. Her father owns small vegetable shop. She
completed her higher secondary level and joined B.A first year in the the hope of getting a suitable job. In this process through
Labour community office she came to know about the LABS programme.
She joined the programme and took hospitality course at her own interest with the aim to improve communication skills and so
on. After completion she joined as Sales girl and started earning Rs 3000. As the days went on, she faced a lot of
unnecessary pressure from work place in regard to long hours of working, target completion, no appreciation and so on and at
home she was scolded for coming late as it is unacceptable in the community. She quit the job and at present she is working
as glass making worker (at home) earning Rs 1000 per month.
Desire to Excel
Sravani as a captain of under-nineteen hockey team had always dreamt to lead the Indian team in international level. Under
her captaincy, the team participated in National Hockey Tournament and secured 3rd place. She accepted the failure as a
challenge and decided to concentrate on hockey to build a career in her chosen game. Belonging to a small family, family
support always acts as a potential power for her. She stopped her study after completion of intermediate for practicing and
concentrating only on hockey. After one and half year of rigorous practice, she was not able to find her place in national hockey
team. Then she opted for the second option to study further and tried for a good job. But due to lack of communication skill, she
could not interact with the people around her. Secondly she had not studied in any specialized course to start a career in that
particular field. Poor self-confidence and low communication skills never allowed her to come out from the four walls to think
big. Confused about her career, she came to know about LABS, but she didn’t take it seriously. First fifteen days activities in
LABS shared by her friends compelled her to join the CRS course in UPADHI-LABS, Alwal centre. After joining in LABS, she
learned about customer relations, marketing techniques, which are literally different from regular studies. Every day had a
special package with special learning tips. She came out from LABS with self-confidence and good communication skill. She
says, “Students, who are coming to LABS, should understand that it is not just the place where we get placements. Instead
think that, it is a place, where a student is moulded in the way that, he/she could be capable of. It could lead to job and hence
build career there after.” After completion of three months course, she started her career as Marketing Research Executive in
ICICI bank. With her ability and sincerity, she was promoted to Financial Consultant-Investment and Insurance in ICICI Bank.
Now she is earning Rs 6000/-1 plus incentives. According to her reporting authority Mr. Jagdish, Sale Manager, ICICI Bank,
“She is a nice and hard working girl. She possesses good leadership skills and more flexible towards the assigned
responsibilities. Her main intention is, to learn more things wherever she could.”
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
74
The proportion of women in ITES is negligible in Rajasthan, UP and Gujarat. These
points to the need for playing a greater role through suitable mobilization by these states
in ensuring equal representation of either gender in the courses offered. If the females
prefer particular courses, such courses need to be also offered so that at the aggregate
level equal representation of both females and males can be attained. The following box
illustrates the context.
Graph 3.2: Course by Gender coverage
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
IT
ES
WG
S
BS
PA
Au
tom
obile
s
CR
S
MI
Hos
pita
lity
MS
W
R&
AC
Tota
l
Perc
neta
ge o
f T
ain
ees
Male Female
3.2 Caste-wise distribution of aspirants: This is an important dimension in
the context of selecting candidates for the courses under LABS. As per the guidelines,
preference shall be given to those belonging to vulnerable groups in the society. The
trends emerging from the data analysis support this requirement. Nearly, three-fourths of
the sample studied belongs to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and also to
Backward Caste (BC) households while the rest represents other castes. It can be further
mentioned that DRF has been instrumental in reaching out to the backward castes
although there was no strategic plan to cover them exclusively. However, they have been
covered and that too more than 40% of the cases which again shows the social
commitment of LABS.
As can be seen from the following graph, Other Castes account for a larger magnitude
in J & K and Karnataka, the reasons being the aspirants covered in J & K are Muslims
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
75
by their religion who are categorized as Other Castes and in the case of Karnataka, the
selected Other Castes represent lower economic stratum of the society.
Graph 3.3: Percentage of aspirants-state-wise and caste group-wise
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
AP
Chh
attis
garh
Gujar
atJ&
K
Karna
taka
Raj
asth
an T.N U.P
Total
Perc
en
tage o
f T
rain
ees
SC BC ST OC
3.3 Age group of the aspirants: Persons belonging to the age-group of 18-35 years
constitute the target group under the LABS. The data show that excepting for 32
aspirants, accounting for 1.7 per cent who are around 16 years, the aspirants belong to
the target group. Field interactions with aspirants in a few states (e.g., UP) suggest that
a few school going children were taken into LABS. ILO project which ran in UP catered to
the age group of 16 and above as Child labour being the major area of work; the LABS
age group was modified in this state.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
76
Graph 3.4: Age group of the aspirants-state-wise
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
AP
Chhatt
isgarh
Guja
rat
J&
K
Karn
ata
ka
Raja
sth
an
T.N
U.P
Tota
l
Perc
en
tag
e o
f T
rain
ees
Up to 16 years 17-20 yrs 21-25 yrs 26-30 yrs 31-35 yrs
3.4 Qualification of the aspirants: As regards qualification of the aspirants before joining
LABS, 4.8 per cent of aspirants studied up to 7-9th standard, 36.4 percent SSC, 41.7
intermediate, 15.8 per cent either pursuing or completed degree, and 1.3 polytechnic and
ITI. About 24 per cent of the aspirants have improved their academic qualification after
joining the LABS. The heterogeneity in the qualification aspect of the aspirants in a
course may create problems with regard to learning capability of the aspirant, particularly
with lower qualification. The aspirants in ITES and CRS are facing such problems.
Table 3.5: Qualification of the aspirants before and after the course
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
77
Qualification before LABS Total number Remaining same Improved Percentage
7-9th Standard 93 65 18 19
SSC 698 571 127 18
Intermediate 800 610 190 24
Degree 1st year 73 33 40 55
Degree 2nd year 46 18 28 61
Degree 3rd year 73 45 28 38
Degree completed 111 92 19 17
Others 25 22 3 12
Total 1919 1456 453 24
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
78
Section 4 - Procedures, processes and perceptions
4.1: Courses covered: Table 4.1 shows that nine different courses were covered under
LABS during 2005-06. Of the nine courses, ITES tops the list with 28 per cent aspirants
followed by CRS (23 per cent), BSPA (22 per cent), Hospitality (10 per cent), etc. All the
nine courses were evenly conducted in AP,( in terms of the number of candidates) while
other states had carried out courses selectively. It is further observed that UP
concentrated only on three courses namely ITES, CRS and Hospitality, whereas in other
states at least half-a dozen courses were offered. During field interactions, some
aspirants, especially of UP, felt that there is a mismatch between the courses offered and
local demand.
In Karnataka as many as 81 per cent of the sample underwent ITES course, in Gujarat
the majority (39 per cent) of the aspirants were exposed to CRS course. BSPA was the
most preferred course in Chattisgarh and J&K. ITES has a tie with hospitality course in
Rajasthan which reflects that the tourism and hospitality sectors are growing at a faster
pace. This shows a trend that mirrors the economic and market trends prevailing in the
local economy.
Graph 4.1: percentage of aspirants-course-wise and state-wise
0
20
40
60
80
100
AP
Ch
ha
ttis
ga
rh
Gu
jara
t
J&
K
Ka
rna
tak
a
Ra
jas
tha
n
T.N
U.P
To
tal
Pe
rce
nta
ge
of
Tra
ine
es
ITES WGS BSPA Automobiles CRS MIT Hospitality MSW R&AC
4.2 Perception on LABS: The sampled aspirants were asked to indicate their perception
on various components of LABS course. In respect of each component, the perception
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
79
Promotions
Mubassir Husain is from Moradabad. His father is a brass worker. He
completed his higher secondary school. Through his friends he came to
know about LABS programme. He joined with a motive to get job.
He took CRS as per his interest. He was satisfied with the course
training as he liked WRM module and other interactive modules which
gained him lot of confidence and awareness about the job requirements.
was sought on a four-point scale, the cues being 0, 1, 2 and 3 where ‘0’ and ‘3’represent
extreme levels on appropriateness/relevance continuum. The average score in respect of
each component is computed taking into account the score obtained by aspirant in the
range of 0-3.
Table 4.2 shows the scores
given by the aspirants on
different components. The
highest score of 2.42 was
obtained in respect of
employability implying that
LABS stands for employability.
The following box explains the
view on LABS in ameliorating
the status of the youth on
employability
Almost equal score was obtained in relation to personality development, economic
advancement and career advancement. The lowest score was obtained in the case of life-
style advancement.
Table 4.2: Scores on the aspirants’ perception on what does LABS stand for
Component Score Rank
Employability 2.42 1
Career advancement 1.74 4
Life-style advancement 1.47 5
Economic advancement 1.79 3
Personality development 1.84 2
Table 4.3 gives the scores obtained by aspirants in relation to the uniqueness of LABS. It
indicates that aspirants perceived LABS as unique in terms of youth friendly. The scores
also suggest that market friendly comes next in the rank. It may be interesting to note that
the aspirants scored low on cross-sector partnership and context-based courses.
Table 4.3: Perception scores on Uniqueness about LABS
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
80
Component Score Rank
Youth friendly 2.31 1
Market friendly 1.69 2
Cross-sector partnership 1.20 4
Context based/localized 1.27 3
Table 4.4 reflects perception of the aspirants on LABS with reference to its target group.
The aspirants rated highest the’school and college drop-outs’ followed by economically
needy. The groups in special circumstances and women got almost the same score,
while ‘differently abled’ got the lowest score.
Table 4.4: Perception scores on Target groups
Component Score Rank
Economically needy 2.55 2
Group in special circumstances 1.06 4
School/college dropouts 2.86 1
Women 1.49 3
Differently abled 0.68 5
4.3 Based on the above discussion, it can be concluded that the sample aspirants do not
seem to have comprehensive understanding on LABS course, its uniqueness and the
target groups. There is also a lack of clarity on the part of aspirants even in the case of
elements which obtained high scores. For instance, in spite of repeated clarification on
the concept of ‘employability’, a majority of the aspirants seem to have mistaken it for
‘employment’ and because of this misconception, many of the aspirants have high
expectations on LABS as means of getting assured employment. In view of this it is
necessary to evolve an appropriate strategy to effectively communicate to the aspirants
on various components of LABS.
4.4 Source for knowing about LABS programme: As there is a possibility that the
candidates can get the information about the LABS from more than one source, a multiple
response question was incorporated in the schedule and accordingly responses were
sought from the aspirants.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
81
As will be seen from the table 5, out of the eight responses, a larger number of aspirants
mentioned that ‘friends’ as an important source for knowing about LABS (33 per cent)5.
The reason may be attributed to the duration of LABS in Andhra Pradesh as it contributes
to the networking among friends and spreading the information about LABS .Next comes
in the order of importance is the ‘road shows’ which accounts for 26 per cent. According
to 18 per cent of the aspirants, local community is also instrumental in creating awareness
about the programme. The other sources which were used by the aspirants (though they
yielded lesser response) include neighbours (12 per cent), Gram Panchayat members
and other political leaders (10 per cent), LABS employees themselves (7 per cent) and
media (6 per cent). Interestingly, 17 (or 1 per cent of the) aspirants also used internet for
obtaining the information about the course.
Graph 4.5: Percentage of aspirants according to source about the LABS courses-
state-wise
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
AP
Chattis
garh
Guja
rat
J&
K
Ka
rnata
ka
Raja
sth
an
T N UP
Tota
l
Pe
rce
nta
ge
of
Tra
ine
es
Local community GP and political leaders Neighbours FriendsMedia Internet Road Show s LABS employees
It can be seen further from the table that the state-wise trends are consistent with the
overall trend in respect of many states. For example in the case of AP, where nearly two-
thirds of the total sample is covered, ‘friends’ continues to emerge as the most important
source and this is followed by ‘road shows’ (24 per cent) and local community ( 23 per
5 It may be noted that in this table, the frequency and the corresponding percentage relating to the
‘mentioned’ category are only depicted.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
82
cent). The other conspicuous deviation from the overall pattern is noticed in regard to
Gujarat where Gram Panchayat members and political leaders played an important role
in propagating about LABS course which were responsible for 60 per cent of the aspirants
joining the course (As it is a multiple response, this trend needs to be cautiously
interpreted).
In Karnataka, a slightly different picture emerges-besides ‘friends’, ‘neighbours’ served as
an important source for passing on the information. But in the case of Rajasthan, a three
source combination namely ‘road shows’ (39 per cent), ‘friends’ (33 per cent) and ‘GP and
political leaders’ (28 per cent) has contributed to spreading the message about LABS
course.
4. 5 Reasons for joining LABS: The course organized under LABS has multiple
objectives, the prime objective is to adequately equip the candidates with skills required to
gain employment. In this regard, the aspirants were asked to indicate the purpose of
joining the course6.
As per the analysis, the reason ‘to get a job’ yields 80 per cent response from the
aspirants distantly followed by the reason ‘to improve life skills’, accounting for 39 per
cent. About 30 per cent of the aspirants joined the course with a motive to improve
communication skills. Though a minority, 14 per cent joined the course for acquiring
additional qualification and the following box explains the case related to this.
6 This question also yielded multiple responses as in the case of earlier question and therefore, the
trends emerging from the data analysis need to be looked at from a different angle.
Eureka Forbes
Feroz Matlab is from Moradabad famous for its brass factories. His father works as technician in brass making. Feroz
completed his higher secondary school and was looking for job opportunities.
Meantime through his neighbours he came to know about LABS. He joined it with the motive to improve
communication skills. After passing the test conducted by LABS he took CRS (Customer relation service), in the
hope of getting suitable job. He underwent the training for three months and dutifully attended the interviews
arranged by LABS staff in collaboration with Eureka Forbes. He got selected and joined with the salary of Rs 2800.
He expressed gratitude for LABS efforts and suggested that if LABS can provide intensive course in communication
skills.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
83
Graph 4.6: Percentage of aspirants according to reasons for joining the course
0102030405060708090
100
AP
Ch
attis
ga
rh
Gu
jara
t
J &
K
Ka
rna
taka
Ra
jasth
an
T N
UP
To
talP
erc
en
tag
e o
f T
rain
ee
s
To get a job To improve communication skills To improve skills For additional qualification
Consistent with the trends obtained from the overall sample, the states also present the
same scenario except in Karnataka where the second important reason for joining the
course is to improve the communication skill. Another striking feature noticed in
Rajasthan is that majority of the aspirants expressed that getting a job was upper most in
their mind while joining the course compared to other reasons.
4.6 Criteria for selection of the course: Interactions with the staff both at the head-
quarters and in the field suggested that DRF conducted centre-wise test for selection of
the candidates for various courses offered by them and the selection was primarily guided
by the aspirant’s performance in the test. However, the aspirants were asked to indicate
in their perception the possible criteria that have gone in to selection process (and
accordingly the question elicited multiple responses).
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
84
The deciding factor for selection was the test conducted by LABS. However variations
occur significantly at the state level perceptions. In AP 72 per cent viewed that the basic
qualification of the aspirant was considered, followed by the test method in the selection
process (51 per cent), and consideration of aspirants’ interest (39 per cent). However,
‘DRF test” emerges as the most perceived criterion in J & K and Tamil Nadu and
Rajasthan and UP aspirants (to some extent) expressed that their interest was taken in
to consideration for in the selection of the course.
4.7 Satisfaction with the course: When asked whether they are satisfied with the course
they have undergone only a microscopic minority (44 aspirants or 2.3 per cent) replied in
the negative and the major chunk of this group is from AP. While UP has three aspirants
belonging to this category, Chattisgarh and J & K has one aspirant each.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
85
Graph 4.7: Courses vs. Satisfaction
9998 98
9697
91
98 98
94
98
86
88
90
92
94
96
98
100
ITE
S
WG
S
BS
PA
Auto
mobile
s
CR
S
MIT
Hospitalit
y
MS
W
R&
AC
Tota
l
Name of the cource
Pe
rce
nta
ge
of
Tra
ine
es
When asked the reasons for their dissatisfaction, 32 out of 44 aspirants expressed that
the course was not up to their liking while seven mentioned the selected courses do not
have potential for jobs. Five aspirants expressed that they had undergone the course
because there was no option left to them for selection. Across courses, though Micro-
Irrigation (MI) course registers the larger dissatisfaction (9 per cent or one out of 11
aspirants), in view of its slender base, this trend needs to be interpreted cautiously.
4.8 Usefulness of the WRM: One of the important approaches of LABS is to prepare the
aspirants on various aspects related to work readiness. In this regard the following were
given importance as part of WRM: exposure visits to industries, communication, technical
aspects, facing interviews, dress code and mannerism, etc. Notwithstanding the best of
the efforts put in by DRF staff to ensure good exposure to work for the aspirants, about 45
per cent of the aspirants did not perceive that WRM has adequately equipped them at the
overall level. To find out in which state this trend is more pronounced cross-tabulation is
carried out. As will be seen from the following table, out of eight courses, WRM was
perceived to be more useful in the case of MI followed by automobiles, R & AC etc.
However, WRM was found to be inadequate in equipping the aspirants in the case of
hospitality followed by CRS. This is primarily due to the competitive nature of the
industries.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
86
Table 4.8: Usefulness of WRM –Course-wise
Usefulness Total
Course
Facing interviews
Practical experience
adjustment to working conditions
Better appreciation of work culture
Developed contacts with companies
Opportunities to undergo additional courses
Not yet Adequate
Cant say/No answer
ITES 8 238 13 5 1 1 241 26 533
1.50% 44.70% 2.40% 0.90% 0.20% 0.20% 45.20% 4.90% 100.00%
WGS 1 53 3 1 56 3 117
0.90% 45.30% 2.60% 0.90% 47.90% 2.60% 100.00%
BSPA 13 206 8 6 2 177 6 418
3.10% 49.30% 1.90% 1.40% 0.50% 42.30% 1.40% 100.00%
Automobiles 3 71 5 4 1 37 1 198
2.50% 58.20% 4.10% 3.30% 0.80% 30.30% 0.80% 100.00%
CRS 11 175 7 11 1 1 211 18 435
2.50% 40.20% 1.60% 2.50% 0.20% 0.20% 48.50% 4.10% 100.00%
MIT 7 1 3 11
63.60% 9.10% 27.30%
Hospitality 6 74 2 1 111 4
3.00% 37.40% 1.00% 0.50% 56.10% 2.00% 100.00%
MSW 4 21 2 1 24 1 53
7.50% 39.60% 3.80% 1.90% 45.30% 1.90% 100.00%
R&AC 21 1 10 32
65.60% 3.10% 31.30% 100.00%
Total 46 866 42 29 4 3 870 59 1919
2.40% 45.10% 2.20% 1.50% 0.20% 0.20% 45.30% 3.10% 100.00%
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
87
4.9 Who all visited the centre: In order to understand the extent of interaction of parents and
others with the LABS, information was sought from the aspirants on the visits made to the
centre by parents, friends of aspirants and others. The analysis of the data in this regard
shows that in the case of two-fifths of the aspirants, at the aggregate level, parents never
made any visit to the centre. But, a larger degree of variation was observed across the
states - 3 per cent in Tamil Nadu and 77 per cent in Rajasthan.
Further analysis of number of visits made by parents indicates, the visits ranged between 1
and 4 (i.e., 27 per cent made one visit, 20 per cent 2 visits, and so on). This trend is by and
large noticed across the other states too. The data on visits are condensed by computing
average number of visits which will facilitate comparison across states.
Table 4.9; Average number of visits by parents, friends and CBOs/NGOs
State Parents Friends CBOs/NGOs No. of aspirants
AP 0.84 0.62 0.47 1118
Chattisgarh 1.05 0.56 0.78 228
Gujarat 0.63 0.50 0.27 146
J & K 2.55 0.92 0.98 87
Karnataka 1.42 0.58 0.90 31
Rajasthan 0.42 0.75 0.81 64
Tamil Nadu 1.78 0.88 0.87 127
UP 1.58 0.68 0.58 118
Overall 1.03 0.64 0.57 1919
The number of aspirants in whose case their friends visited the centre ranged between 50
per cent in Gujarat and 88 per cent in TN, the overall percentage being 64 points. Similarly
in the case of the visits by CBOs/NGOs, Gujarat occupies the lowest position with only 27
per cent visiting and on the other extreme, J & K is seen with the corresponding figure of
98 per cent which is higher by about 40 percentage points than the overall percentage for
all the study states.
In so far as meeting the friends is concerned, nearly 90 per cent reported to have never met
while in the case of the rest of the aspirants, the frequency is weekly and fortnightly (five per
cent each.)
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
88
As is evident from the above table, the parents have relatively made larger number of visits
(1.03) followed by friends (0.64) and CBOs (0.57) at the aggregate level. But at the state
level J & K registers the largest number of parent visits 2.55, friends visit 0.92 and
CBOs/NGOs visit 0.98. Falling in the end of the spectrum are Rajasthan in respect of
parents (0.42 visited), Gujarat in respect of friends (0.50 visited) and AP in respect of CBOs.
In regard to the purpose of their visit, a large number of aspirants reported their visit was
mostly to attend meetings (CBOs), for a general enquiry (friends) and at the time of
admission (parents).
4.10 Employment Status of the Aspirants: A large majority (46 per cent) of the aspirants
have joined the job within a period of 3 months, while 17 per cent reported that they waited
for 4-6 months to get the job after completion of the course. A small proportion (3.3 per
cent) of the aspirants had to struggle for over a year to get the job. A few of the aspirants
were employed even before joining LABS, though in a small number in different sectors like
marketing, nursing, teaching, self employment and other services. About 85 per cent of the
aspirants have reported that they are satisfied with their earnings in the present job (more
details on this dimension are available in section 5.)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
AP
Chh
attis
garh
Gujar
atJ&
K
Karna
taka
Raj
asth
an
Tamil Nad
u
Utta
r Pra
desh
Total
Perc
en
tag
e o
f T
rain
ees
1-3 months 4-6 months 7-9 months 10-12 months Above one year No Job
Graph 4.10: Employment Status of the Aspirants across states
Securing better employment and up-gradation of skills is the driving motivation of the pre-
LABS employed aspirants for joining LABS course. The reason specified for quitting earlier
job is poor working conditions and long distance.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
89
It is also important to note that 28.5 per cent of the aspirants were jobless after undergoing a
course in LABS; and some of these aspirants are in pursuit of further education and
undergoing training.
The 548 unemployed aspirants indicated many reasons; the most important among them
are insufficient training in getting a job, domestic compulsions etc. In states including AP and
Chattisgarh, some of the aspirants are pursuing further studies instead of employment
Table 4.11: Reasons for not working by the aspirants across the states
State Total Reasons
AP Chattisgarh Gujarat J&K Karnataka Rajasthan Tamil
Nadu
Uttar
Pradesh
No job
opportunities
57 4 3 2 1 1 12 80
5.1% 1.8% 2.1% 2.3% 1.6% .8% 10.2% 4.2%
Job shown at a
far off place
48 3 51
4.3% 2.5% 2.7%
Un-
remunerative
offers
19 2 1 22
1.7% .9% .8% 1.1%
Poor working
conditions
9 1 1 11
.8% .7% .8% .6%
Training did not
make me fully
equipped
22 2 1 25
A. Factors
within the
control of
LABS
2.0% .9% .8% 1.3%
Domestic
compulsions
84 5 4 93
7.5% 3.4% 3.4% 4.8%
Started self
employment
16 16
B. Factors
out side the
purview of
LABS
1.4% .8%
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
90
Searching for
job
54 1 55
4.8% .8% 2.9%
To pursue
studies
95 17 1 1 1 51 166
8.5% 7.5% .7% 1.1% 1.6% 43.2% 8.7%
714 203 136 84 31 62 126 44 1400 NA (As employed)
63.9% 89.0% 93.2% 96.6% 100.0% 96.9% 99.2% 37.3% 73.0%
1118 228 146 87 31 64 127 118 1919 Total
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Therefore we can summarize the findings from the above table as
• Of the total sample, 17 per cent are not employed due to factors outside the purview of
LABS.
• 10 per cent of the sample is not employed in spite of the role played by LABS.
• The rest are not available (73%) as they are employed.
4.11 Follow-up: The aspirants strongly expressed the need for getting enrolled as members
of alumni so as to get constant peer support and information about the career options (from
those who are trying for employment or already employed). In their view alumni meet can
help them to explore better opportunities both in terms of suitability of job and earnings. So
far there is no formal arrangement in this regard. This could be due to lack of initiative from
the members themselves in general and organization in particular. However, 29 per cent of
aspirants have indicated that they keep in touch through informal contacts with the staff and
their friends. Most important means in this regard is telephone (23 per cent) and internet (in
a few cases). A wide variation is noticed across the states- Tamil Nadu reporting 95 per
cent contacts and UP with less than one percent.
Table 4.12: Means of getting the information by Aspirants
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
91
0
20
40
60
80
100
AP
Chha
ttis
garh
Gu
jara
t
J&
K
Ka
rna
taka
Ra
jasth
an
TN
UP
Tota
l
Perc
enta
ge o
f T
rain
ees
Internet Post Phone Any other NA
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
92
Section 5 - Economic and social Impact
5.1 This section deals with the analysis of the data relating to activities of the aspirants for
both pre and post LABS periods vis-à-vis the earnings of the aspirants. Besides capturing
the transition of the aspirants on the income continuum, the actual impact in terms of
improvement in income is worked out. The contribution of the course on the social front
also forms part of the discussion.
5.2 Activity before joining LABS course: Nearly three-fifths of the aspirants
reported not to have any gainful activity (either remaining idle looking for employment or
engaged in studies) in the overall sample. Among others who reported to be employed,
‘services’ accounts for a larger proportion followed by wage employment and self
employment. A miniscule number of aspirants were also engaged in cultivation (farming)-the
occupation of the household.
As will be seen from the following graph, the percentage of employees who reported to be
employed before their exposure to LABS course varied considerably across states like 2 per
cent in J&K and 47 per cent in Gujarat, the overall value being 17.2.
Graph 5.1: Percentage of aspirants according to activity before joining LABS course
No
activity/idle,
47.6
Studies, 35.2
Self
employment,
4.6
Wage
employment,
5.2 Services, 6
Cultivation, 0.9
Others, 0.5
No activity/idle
Studies
Self employment
Wage employment
Services
Cultivation
Others
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
93
Average income per aspirant is computed in respect of each study state after excluding the
aspirants who did not have any earnings before the LABS course either because of no
activity/job or because of being engaged in studies. The average income moved in a wide
range of Rs.1163 per aspirant in Tamil Nadu and Rs. 2833 in Karnataka. When compared
to the overall average figure of Rs.1359, only three states namely Gujarat, J&K and
Karnataka fall above this figure while others register lower figures.
Graph 5.2: Percentage distribution of aspirants according to Income group - Pre
LABS period-state-wise
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
AP
Chhattis
garh
Guja
rat
J&
K
Karn
ata
ka
Raja
sth
an
Tam
il N
adu
Uttar
Pra
desh
Tota
l
States
Perc
en
tag
e o
f T
rain
ees
No income / no job Upto Rs.500 Rs.501 – 1000 Rs.1001 - 2000
Rs.2001 - 3000 Rs.3001 - 4000 Rs.4001 and +
5
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
94
Graph 5.3: Average income before joining LABS course
12681361
18201750
2833
1500
11631269
1359
17.8
7.9
46.7
2.3
29
10.9
18.1
32.2
17.2
0
1000
2000
3000
AP
Chattis
garh
Guja
rat
J &
K
Karn
ata
ka
Raja
sth
an
TN
UP
Tota
l
Incom
e p
er
month
0
10
20
30
40
50
%of T
rain
ees e
mplo
yed
Average income (in Rs.) Percentage employed
5.3 Activity after joining LABS: The candidates by virtue of being exposed to
LABS course could take up various economic activities including customer services (31 per
cent), bed-side nursing (14 per cent), etc.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
95
Table 5.4: Activity after joining LABS-state-wise
State Total Activity after joining LABS
AP Chattisgarh Gujarat J&K Karnataka Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Uttar Pradesh
No activity / looking for job 301 10 12 5 1 2 2 27 360
26.9% 4.4% 8.2% 5.7% 3.2% 3.1% 1.6% 22.9% 18.8%
Automobiles 41 7 2 2 1 9 14 76
3.7% 3.1% 1.4% 2.3% 3.2% 14.1% 11.0% 4.0%
Customer services 243 100 70 46 15 15 72 25 586
21.7% 43.9% 47.9% 52.9% 48.4% 23.4% 56.7% 21.2% 30.5%
Bed side patient assistant 151 49 40 15 8 6 269
13.5% 21.5% 27.4% 17.2% 12.5% 4.7% 14.0%
Business 26 26
2.3% 1.4%
MI 3 3
.3% .2%
TV repairs 11 3 1 15
1.0% 1.3% 1.6% .8%
R&AC mechanism 11 4 4 1 7 8 35
1.0% 1.8% 2.7% 1.1% 10.9% 6.3% 1.8%
Hospitality 24 5 14 14 8 5 70
2.1% 3.4% 16.1% 21.9% 6.3% 4.2% 3.6%
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
96
State Total Activity after joining LABS
AP Chattisgarh Gujarat J&K Karnataka Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Uttar Pradesh
Teaching 50 13 1 1 2 67
4.5% 5.7% 1.6% .8% 1.7% 3.5%
Further studies 90 15 1 1 43 150
8.1% 6.6% 1.1% 3.2% 36.4% 7.8%
Further training 9 9
.8% .5%
Computer operator 82 26 5 3 13 7 15 3 154
7.3% 11.4% 3.4% 3.4% 41.9% 10.9% 11.8% 2.5% 8.0%
Self employment 64 1 8 1 5 79
5.7% .4% 5.5% .8% 4.2% 4.1%
Wage labour 12 8 20
1.1% 6.8% 1.0%
Total 1118 228 146 87 31 64 127 118 1919
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
97
From Darkness to Light: Journey of Ram Babu
Rambabu with serious deformities in his right leg as a result of his battle with polio belongs to poor family in Kaikuloori Mandal
near Kolleti Konda in Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh. Working as a daily labourer, his father was only able to manage two
meals a day. But the importance of education was always being felt by his illiterate mother, who encouraged Rambabu to
complete his graduation. To fulfil his further aspirations, he came to the capital city, Hyderabad for searching a decent job to
lead a peaceful life. Initially he tried for some jobs but didn’t fit into any because of lack of necessary skills. He always took a
back seat due to lack of knowledge in computers. One fine morning he saw the advertisement of L.B.Nagar Municipality about
UPADHI LABS and attended road show. He had selected for ITES course in L. B. Nagar. Those days LABS became a turning
point in his life. Rambabu says, “In LABS, I came to know about my strengths and weaknesses. LABS gave me the right
direction to plan for my future.” He started calculating his career graph with these additional skills from LABS. He got an
opportunity in AICB (All India Confederation of Blind) in March 2006. Now he is drawing a scale of Rs.60001 per month from
August of this year. Being differently abled , he is serving other disabled by telling and explaining about the schemes of the
government and helping them to come out from darkness.
Interestingly, customer services activity is the one which is pursued by a larger number in all
the study states, followed by bed-side patient assistant and computer training courses.
5.4 Role of educational background in the post LABS activity and
salary drawn: The activities in which the aspirants are expected to be employed are
those in which they received training under LABS. Further, the educational background is
also a factor to some extent to determine which educational background has lead to which
activity. Towards this end, a hypothesis is postulated that educational background is a
deciding factor in the activity of the aspirant and accordingly a cross-table is generated
between these two variables and the resultant table is presented below:
A close look at this table shows that aspirants with relatively higher educational level got
placements in customer services sector whereas those with lower educational background
got engaged in activities like BSPA and other services (independent of the gender of the
aspirant). The following table depicts the status of those with lower educational background
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
98
Table 5.5: Activity after joining LABS * Qualification after joining LABS
Qualification after joining LABs Total Activity after
LABS 7-9th Standard SSC Intermediate Degree 1st
year
Degree
2nd year
Degree 3rd
year
Degree
completed
Others
No activity / looking
for job
13 124 136 35 5 12 18 17 360
19.7% 20.9% 19.7% 17.2% 7.1% 13.8% 14.2% 20.5% 18.8%
Automobiles 1 26 29 7 4 2 5 2 76
1.5% 4.4% 4.2% 3.4% 5.7% 2.3% 3.9% 2.4% 4.0%
Customer services 19 186 228 48 19 22 46 18 586
28.8% 31.4% 33.0% 23.6% 27.1% 25.3% 36.2% 21.7% 30.5%
Bed side nursing
assistance
15 123 83 12 10 8 9 9 269
22.7% 20.7% 12.0% 5.9% 14.3% 9.2% 7.1% 10.8% 14.0%
Business 7 11 3 2 2 1 26
1.2% 1.6% 1.5% 2.9% 1.6% 1.2% 1.4%
MI 2 1 3
.3% 1.2% .2%
TV repairs 3 4 5 1 2 15
4.5% .7% .7% 1.4% 2.4% .8%
R&AC mechanism 3 16 10 2 4 35
4.5% 2.7% 1.4% 1.0% 4.8% 1.8%
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
99
Qualification after joining LABs Total Activity after
LABS 7-9th Standard SSC Intermediate Degree 1st
year
Degree
2nd year
Degree 3rd
year
Degree
completed
Others
Hospitality 1 23 27 7 2 6 4 70
1.5% 3.9% 3.9% 3.4% 2.9% 6.9% 3.1% 3.6%
Teaching 1 12 20 9 2 6 9 8 67
1.5% 2.0% 2.9% 4.4% 2.9% 6.9% 7.1% 9.6% 3.5%
Further studies 2 18 53 45 10 7 8 7 150
3.0% 3.0% 7.7% 22.2% 14.3% 8.0% 6.3% 8.4% 7.8%
Further training 2 3 2 2 9
.3% .4% 1.0% 2.4% .5%
Computer operator 24 54 23 10 19 16 8 154
4.0% 7.8% 11.3% 14.3% 21.8% 12.6% 9.6% 8.0%
Self employment 4 22 25 7 4 4 9 4 79
6.1% 3.7% 3.6% 3.4% 5.7% 4.6% 7.1% 4.8% 4.1%
Wage labour 4 6 4 3 1 1 1 20
6.1% 1.0% .6% 1.5% 1.4% 1.1% .8% 1.0%
Total 66 593 690 203 70 87 127 83 1919
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
100
It is expected that the salary offered to the employee is generally based on the nature of job
and educational background. Against this backdrop, cross-table 5.6 is generated through
which it is evident that there are a lot of cases in salary groups ranging from Rs.501 -3000
who are continuing with jobs and a negligible proportion falls beyond this range which is
uniformly seen across all educational categories.
Graph 5.6: Income according to qualification ( after joining LABS )
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
No income
/ no job
Upto
Rs.500
Rs.501 -
1000
Rs.1001 -
2000
Rs.2001 -
3000
Rs.3001 -
4000
Rs.4001
and +
Working
w ithout
earnings
Income groups
Perc
en
tag
e o
f T
rain
ee
s
upto SSC Inter Degree pursuing Degree complete Others
The discussion would boil down to the following: Aspirants with slightly higher educational
qualification are preferred for courses like ITES which may demand higher order
skills.(Strictly speaking for taking a candidate for a particular activity the pre-requisite is the
training in that activity. But it is seen that there is a mismatch of a greater degree between
the course offered and the activity in which the aspirant got employment) -No correlation
exists between the educational qualification and the corresponding salary.
While the first finding is on the expected lines, the second one may have adverse
implications in the long run. Though the nature of training is same, while determining the
salary, aspirants’ higher educational qualification must be given due weight age.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
101
However, it may be noted that under LABS only a skill based training is given to the drop-
outs who have not been able to pursue their studies further and as such their educational
background need not necessarily be an essential factor at the time of selection. Therefore
the conclusions drawn in this section relating to the role of education at the time of
selection, getting a job later and also the earnings need to be interpreted keeping this
aspect in mind.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
AP
Ch
attis
ga
rh
Gu
jara
t
J&
K
Ka
rna
taka
Ra
jasth
an
Ta
mil N
ad
u
Utta
r
Pra
de
sh
To
tal
Pe
rce
nta
ge
of
Tra
ine
es
No income / no job Upto Rs.500 Rs.501 – 1000 Rs.1001 - 2000
Rs.2001 - 3000 Rs.3001 - 4000 Rs.4001 and + Working w ithout earnings
Graph 5.7: Income after joining LABS-state-wise
It must be noted that state wise comparison might be misleading as there are other factors like
contextual issues and circumstances which also influences the performance.
5.6 Income after LABS course: It is evident from the following table that at the
aggregate level, 72 per cent of the aspirants reported to have been engaged in gainful
activity (this number excludes unemployed and also those who are pursuing their studies or
undergoing further training).
In providing employment the LABS training appears to be coming in handy more -- in Tamil
Nadu 98 per cent of the aspirants got employment, Rajasthan 95 per cent whereas J&K
registered larger post training employment incidence. As compared to the above states, UP
registers only 40 per cent success.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
102
Table 5.8: Number of aspirants according to Income (per month) before and after LABS course
Income after LABS Total Income
Before LABS No income /
no job
Upto Rs.500 Rs.501 –
1000
Rs.1001 -
2000
Rs.2001 –
3000
Rs.3001 -
4000
Rs.4001 and
+
Working
without
earnings
No income / no job 480 69 275 429 197 81 39 19 1589
30.2% 4.3% 17.3% 27.0% 12.4% 5.1% 2.5% 1.2% 100.0%
Upto Rs.500 10 16 17 11 5 1 2 62
16.1% 25.8% 27.4% 17.7% 8.1% 1.6% 3.2% 100.0%
Rs.501 - 1000 4 3 32 35 12 3 1 90
4.4% 3.3% 35.6% 38.9% 13.3% 3.3% 1.1% 100.0%
Rs.1001 - 2000 17 38 33 11 11 110
15.5% 34.5% 30.0% 10.0% 10.0% 100.0%
Rs.2001 - 3000 3 1 6 18 10 7 1 46
6.5% 2.2% 13.0% 39.1% 21.7% 15.2% 2.2% 100.0%
Rs.3001 - 4000 3 1 1 4 5 14
21.4% 7.1% 7.1% 28.6% 35.7% 100.0%
Rs.4001 and + 1 2 5 8
12.5% 25.0% 62.5% 100.0%
Total 517 88 325 521 268 110 69 21 1919
26.9% 4.6% 16.9% 27.1% 14.0% 5.7% 3.6% 1.1% 100.0%
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
103
In addition to post course employment incidence, salary offered to the aspirant is equally
important. As seen in the following table, the amount of salary offered is not uniform across
states. As per the analysis, the aspirants in Karnataka get Rs. 3723 on an average while on
the other extreme Tamil Nadu falls (it may be recalled that this state registered largest
employment incidence). However, AP, Chattisgarh and J&K retained the same ranks 7.5
and 3 respectively.
In order to obtain a full picture based on both employment incidence and the corresponding
average salary drawn (considering only employed), the individual ranks on these two
parameters are aggregated and re-ranked again. Interestingly, when the performance was
measured on both the parameters, Rajasthan emerges as the most successful state
followed by Karnataka, J&K, Tamil Nadu etc. The last rank is shared by AP and UP.
Graph 5.9: Position of states on two performance indicators (post course period)
7.5
5.5 5.5
3
2
1
4
7.5
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
AP
Cha
ttisg
arh
Guj
arat
J&K
Kar
nataka
Rajas
than
Tamil Nad
uUP
States
Overa
ll R
ank
Note: The above graph is drawn for the ranks only and therefore Rajasthan which is ranking
first has got the shortest bar.
5.7 In the following analysis, the actual quantum of jump in the earnings aspect of the
state-wise employed group in two time points is computed (It may be noted that the group
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
104
employed in the pre-LABS period need not necessarily be the same group in the post
LABS period).
Even in this case, Rajasthan is in the lead with an increase of Rs.1532 on an average and
this is very distantly followed by Karnataka with a corresponding figure of Rs 890. The high
incremental income in respect of Rajasthan is attributable to the fact that the aspirants in
this state are working in various establishments in the sub-urbs of Delhi where wage rates
are high. It is also clear from the table that Chattisgarh, Gujarat, AP and Tamil Nadu
registered incremental incomes below the overall (study states) average.
Graph 5.10: Pre and post LABS average salary per month-state-wise
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
AP
Chattisgarh
Guja
rat
J &
K
Karn
ata
ka
Raja
sth
an
Tam
il N
adu
UP
Overa
ll
Avera
ge s
ala
ry
Pre-LABS average salary(Rs.) Post LABS average salary(Rs.)
5.8 Name of the course vs. activity being pursued after course: With
a view to understanding the extent of the trained candidates getting employment in general
and also in the trade in which they received training in particular, a cross table has been
prepared between the course attended by the aspirant and the activity in which he/she is
presently engaged. As can be seen from the table, the incidence of unemployment/not
looking for job is the highest among Micro-Irrigation candidates (27 per cent) ( this trend
needs to be interpreted carefully because of slender base) followed by ITES ( 22 per cent)
and automobiles ( 21 per cent) etc. Even in the case of CRS and WGS, nearly one –fifth of
the trained reported to be unemployed.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
105
Secondly, it is also examined whether a candidate who received training in a particular
activity is pursuing his/her interest in the same activity or not. For example, in the case of
BSPA, 54 per cent of the aspirants were able to get employment in the respective activity
while others are pursuing other activities. Similarly, only 29 per cent of automobiles
aspirants continue their interest in the same service while others switched over to customer
related services etc. There is also a cusp between individual and role. Employers could be
having CRS roles in the automobile sector too.
This phenomenon could be due to a variety of reasons viz., lack of adequate employment
potential in the sector in which the training is received, poor working conditions in the work
place, relatively low remuneration, candidates’ preference of employment at shorter
distances etc.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
106
Table 5.11: Course vs. activity of the aspirants during post LABS course
Course Name No
activity
/
looking
for job
Auto
mobiles
Customer
services
Bed side
nursing
assistance
Business MIT TV
repairs
R&AC
mecha
nism
Hospi
tality
Teach
ing
Further
studies
Further
training
Computer
operator
Self
employ
yment
Wage
labour
Total
ITES 117 15 147 9 7 2 1 5 29 55 2 127 15 2 533
22.0% 2.8% 27.6% 1.7% 1.3% .4% .2% .9% 5.4% 10.3% .4% 23.8% 2.8% .4% 100.0%
WGS 21 11 42 1 11 12 4 4 1 9 1 117
17.9% 9.4% 35.9% .9% 9.4% 10.3% 3.4% 3.4% .9% 7.7% .9% 100.0%
BSPA 70 4 47 227 1 7 12 34 3 3 10 418
16.7% 1.0% 11.2% 54.3% .2% 1.7% 2.9% 8.1% .7% .7% 2.4% 100.0%
Auto
mobiles
26 35 29 2 1 5 3 4 2 3 9 3 122
21.3% 28.7% 23.8% 1.6% .8% 4.1% 2.5% 3.3% 1.6% 2.5% 7.4% 2.5% 100.0%
CRS 82 3 229 27 9 1 2 15 31 1 12 19 4 435
18.9% .7% 52.6% 6.2% 2.1% .2% .5% 3.4% 7.1% .2% 2.8% 4.4% .9% 100.0%
MIT 3 3 3 1 1 11
27.3% 27.3% 27.3% 9.1% 9.1% 100.0%
Hospi
Tality
29 1 69 3 3 1 49 1 20 1 3 10 8 198
14.6% .5% 34.8% 1.5% 1.5% .5% 24.7% .5% 10.1% .5% 1.5% 5.1% 4.0% 100.0%
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
107
MSW 7 4 14 1 1 1 4 6 3 1 5 4 2 53
13.2% 7.5% 26.4% 1.9% 1.9% 1.9% 7.5% 11.3% 5.7% 1.9% 9.4% 7.5% 3.8% 100.0%
R&AC 5 9 1 13 1 3 32
15.6% 28.1% 3.1% 40.6% 3.1% 9.4% 100.0%
Total 360 76 586 269 26 3 15 35 70 67 150 9 154 79 20 1919
18.8% 4.0% 30.5% 14.0% 1.4% .2% .8% 1.8% 3.6% 3.5% 7.8% .5% 8.0% 4.1% 1.0% 100.0%
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
108
5.9 Transition matrix of the aspirants: In order to capture the transition of the
aspirants from one salary group to another due to exposure of LABS programme and later
getting a job also (wherever applicable), a matrix, ( annexure ) , is constructed.
Table 5.12: Transition matrix of the aspirants
After the LABS training Before the
training No income/no
job
Up to
Rs.500
Rs.501-
1000
Rs.1001-
2000
Rs.2001-
3000
Rs.3001-
4000
Rs.4001
and +
Total
No income/no
job
327
(0)
69
(1)
275
(2)
429
(3)
197
(4)
81
(5)
39
(6)
1417
Up to Rs.500 10
(-1)
16
(0)
17
(1)
11
(2)
5
(3)
1
(4)
2
(5)
62
Rs.501-1000 4
(-2)
3
(-1)
32
(0)
35
(1)
12
(2)
3
(3)
- 89
Rs.1001-2000 17
(-3)
- - 38
(0)
33
(1)
11
(2)
11
(3)
110
Rs.2001-3000 3
(-4)
- 1
(-2)
6
(-1)
18
(0)
10
(1)
7
(2)
45
Rs.3001-4000 3
(-5)
- - 1
(-2)
1
(-1)
4
(0)
5
(1)
14
Rs.4001 and + - - - 1
(-3)
2
(-2)
- 5
(0)
8
Total 364 88 325 521 268 110 69 1745
Note (i) This table excludes aspirants who were pursuing their studies further, undergoing
some other training programme and also those who were working with out earnings in the
post LABS training period. Figures in parentheses represent movements (transition) of the
aspirants on the income continuum.
For each group of aspirants in the matrix, a weight has been assigned depending up on the
extent to which the aspirant has traversed on the income continuum. For example, out of
1417 aspirants who did not join any activity prior to LABS course, 327 (or 23 per cent)
aspirants stayed-put (not having any income in the post LABS period also, because no
activity is taken up). While 69 per cent could move up to Rs.500 bracket, 275 up to Rs. 501-
1000 bracket and so on and these movements are assigned weights 0,1,2,3 etc.
It is obvious from the matrix that the aspirants on the diagonal did not show any
improvement in the income and those below the diagonal, in fact, have slid back on the
income continuum. Similarly, aspirants above the diagonal are those who could improve the
income attributable to the LABS intervention. To quantify the extent of transition, a simple
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
109
transition index is worked out taking in to account sliding back, staying put and improving
cases, in respect of each group which is to be interpreted in relative terms only.
It is interesting to note from the table that the aspirants numbering 1417 who had no job / no
income before exposure could secure the highest value as compared to others. And, this
group is followed by the group with base income of Rs up to 500 and so on. For the group
as a whole, the transition index is 2.00 points.
Table 5.13: Statement showing the index of progress on the income continuum- pre
LABS income group-wise
Pre LABS income
group
Total no. of
movements
No. of aspirants Index( No. of
movements per
aspirant
No income/no job 3333 1417 2.35
Up to Rs.500 58 62 0.94
Rs.501-1000 57 89 0.64
Rs.1001-2000 37 110 0.34
Rs.2001-3000 4 45 0.09
Rs.3001-4000 13 14 0.93
Rs.4001 and + -7 8 -0.88
Total 3495 1745 2.00
5.10: Crucial indicators of course performance: Some crucial indicators
relating to the transition of the aspirants are also constructed based on the above matrix
(table 5.13). The interpretation of the indicators is
• Nearly one –fifth of the aspirants continue to be with out any income /job
• 113 aspirants did have some income earlier but there is no sign of any
improvement in its magnitude
• In the case of 52 aspirants, sliding back is reported and
• Nearly 72 per cent of the cases showing real improvement ( independent of the
magnitude)
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
110
Table 5.14: Some crucial indicators reflecting course performance
Aspirant’s category Number Percentage
No income before and after LABS course 327 18.7
Staying put( remaining in the same income bracket) 113 6.5
Worsening cases( incomes lost) 52 3.0
Having incremental incomes 1253 71.8
Total 1745 100.0
5.11 Monthly savings before LABS course: The analysis in regard to this
dimension shows that 87 per cent of the aspirants did not report to be having any savings
prior to LABS course. Among others, the savings ranged between up to Rs. 500 (5 per cent)
to Rs.1501 (3 per cent). States too exhibit more or less similar pattern.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
111
Table 5.15: Monthly savings before LABS
State Total Mon
thly savings before LABS AP Chhattisgarh Gujarat J&K Karnataka Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Uttar Pradesh
No Savings 982 225 76 75 24 61 114 117 1674
87.8% 98.7% 52.1% 86.2% 77.4% 95.3% 89.8% 99.2% 87.2%
Upto Rs.500 65 3 13 4 5 1 5 96
5.8% 1.3% 8.9% 4.6% 16.1% 1.6% 3.9% 5.0%
Rs.501 – 1000 32 18 2 2 1 1 56
2.9% 12.3% 2.3% 6.5% .8% .8% 2.9%
Rs.1001 to 1500 11 20 4 2 7 44
1.0% 13.7% 4.6% 3.1% 5.5% 2.3%
Rs.1501 and + 28 19 2 49
2.5% 13.0% 2.3% 2.6%
Total 1118 228 146 87 31 64 127 118 1919
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
112
5.12: Monthly savings after LABS course: 519 out of 1919 aspirants
reported to be not engaged in any economic activity and in 41 per cent of the cases, though
the aspirants are employed and earning some money, could not save any amount. Among
others, monthly saving was mostly up to Rs. 500 only (17 per cent). On the other hand,
about 6 per cent could save between Rs.1501 and +. Relatively across the states, Gujarat,
J&K, and Karnataka stand apart in larger savings..
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
113
Table 5.16: Monthly savings after joining LABS
State Total
Monthly savings after LABS AP Chhattisgarh Gujarat J&K Karnataka Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Uttar Pradesh
0 433 129 49 27 16 18 10 105 787
38.7% 56.6% 33.6% 31.0% 51.6% 28.1% 7.9% 89.0% 41.0%
Upto Rs.500 183 31 11 8 4 29 77 1 344
16.4% 13.6% 7.5% 9.2% 12.9% 45.3% 60.6% .8% 17.9%
Rs.501 – 1000 56 3 17 10 3 5 4 5 103
5.0% 1.3% 11.6% 11.5% 9.7% 7.8% 3.1% 4.2% 5.4%
Rs.1001 to 1500 20 1 15 4 2 2 2 46
1.8% .4% 10.3% 4.6% 6.5% 3.1% 1.6% 2.4%
Rs.1501 and + 37 43 21 6 2 7 4 120
3.3% 29.5% 24.1% 19.4% 3.1% 5.5% 3.4% 6.3%
NA 389 64 11 17 8 27 3 519
34.8% 28.1% 7.5% 19.5% 12.5% 21.3% 2.5% 27.0%
Total 1118 228 146 87 31 64 127 118 1919
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
114
5.13: Savings transition matrix: While constructing this matrix, cases reporting
no income / no job during the post LABS training are excluded. As can be seen from this
matrix, 1173 cases forming 84 per cent in the sample of 1400 did not have any savings prior
to the course and 66 per cent do not have any savings during the post training period.
Among others, 25 per cent could save up to Rs.500 per month. It can be further noticed
from this matrix, that in a few cases the savings have shrunk during the post training period
as compared to the earlier period.. It may be further added that there has not been a
significant change in the savings pre and post LABS. However around 16% of the aspirants
had savings Pre LABS while 44% of them saved Post LABS. It is to be noted that the
savings reported relate only to a period of six months on an average after completion of
the training programme.
Table 5.17: Monthly savings before LABS
Monthly savings (in Rs) %of aspirants- Before
LABS
%of aspirants- After LABS
No Savings 83.8 56.2
Upto Rs.500 6.3 24.6
Rs.501 - 1000 3.3 7.4
Rs.1001 to 1500 3.1 3.3
Rs.1501 and + 3.5 8.6
Total 100 100
Graph 5.18: Percentage of aspirants according to monthly savings before and after
LABS course
83.8
6.33.3 3.1 3.5
56.2
24.6
7.43.3
8.6
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
No Savings Upto Rs.500 Rs.501 - 1000 Rs.1001 to 1500 Rs.1501 and +
Monthly savings
Perc
enta
ge o
f T
rain
ees
%of trainees- Before LABS %of trainees- After LABS
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
115
5.14: Whether the first job? Out of the total 1919 aspirants, 1192 aspirants i.e.,
62 per cent of the aspirants claim that the current job is their first job, while 208 aspirants i.e,
10.8 per cent were engaged in some economic activity earlier. (This question is not
applicable to 519 who come under’ unemployed aspirants’ category.)
Except in the case of Karnataka where one-third was employed earlier, nearly 10 per cent
across the states did have some economic or other kind of exposure before. The jobs in
which they were engaged include marketing sector, nursing, teaching, self employment and
services, though a microscopic minority, 13 aspirants (0.7 per cent) were working as
labourers.
Graph 5.19: Percentage of aspirants according to whether it is first job
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
AP
Ch
ha
ttis
ga
rh
Gu
jara
t
J&
K
Ka
rna
tak
a
Ra
jas
tha
n
Ta
mil
Na
du
Utt
ar
Pra
de
sh
To
tal
Pe
rce
nta
ge
of
Tra
ine
es
No Yes NA
5.15: Satisfaction with the current salary: Among those employed, excepting
for 13 per cent aspirants, others are satisfied with the salary they are offered. Further,
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
116
while other states more or less follow the overall pattern, J&K and UP fall apart with 30 per
cent and 26 per cent expressing satisfaction with the salary. This again is due to the age
group adapted for the program especially in Uttar Pradesh. Pursuing studies and domestic
compulsions are the dominant reasons for not being employed.
When asked whether they are comfortable with the work, 7 per cent replied in the negative
and stated the following reasons that - they were demanded to do long hours of job (5 per
cent) while others (2 per cent) were dissatisfied with the salary
5.16: Switching over to a new job: Independent of their satisfaction with the
work and the salary offered, 40 per cent of the aspirants who got employment prefer/plan to
switch over to a new job. This tendency is seen in a larger measure in Gujarat, Karnataka,
Tamil Nadu and UP and two dominant reasons for this are expecting a jump in the salary (17
per cent) and expecting prospective careers (22 per cent).
Graph 5.20: Percentage of aspirants according to whether they switch over to a new
job
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
AP Chattisgarh Gujarat J&K Karnataka Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Uttar
Pradesh
Total
Pe
rce
nta
e o
f T
rain
ee
s
No Yes NA (Not employed earlier)
5.17: Confidence of getting another job: Of 1400 employed aspirants (during
the post LABS training phase), 1237 aspirants (88 per cent) expressed confidence of getting
another job. This reflects to some extent on the benefits of the training and the way the
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
117
candidates were trained during the course. It expresses that the aspirants have their
perception of being employable as closely linked with the level of confidence they
exude. Chattisgarh, Gujarat, J&K, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu register larger
percentages in this regard when compared to the overall figure.
5.18: Parents’ occupation: The aspirants primarily come from the households
belonging to (31 per cent) labour section both in agricultural and non-agricultural labour,
cultivators 26 per cent and private job holders 17 per cent. About 8 per cent of the
households were also engaged in business and self-employment. Rural artisans’
households are represented to the extent of one per cent in the sample.
However across states, Gujarat and Rajasthan households depended on cultivation as
occupation which is in majority and in UP the sample covered a larger number of aspirants
representing labour households. This can be further corroborated by the nature of the
projects and also the local economy, whereas UP falls under ILO project , both Rajasthan
and Gujarat are Rural projects
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
118
Table 5.21: Parent's occupation * State Cross tabulation
State Total Parent's occupation
AP Chhattisgarh Gujarat J&K Karnataka Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Uttar Pradesh
Cultivation 279 19 83 35 1 37 46 4 504
25.0% 8.3% 56.8% 40.2% 3.2% 57.8% 36.2% 3.4% 26.3%
Labour (ag/non-ag) 344 39 46 27 5 19 47 62 589
30.8% 17.1% 31.5% 31.0% 16.1% 29.7% 37.0% 52.5% 30.7%
Govt. service 105 39 4 6 3 2 4 163
9.4% 17.1% 2.7% 6.9% 9.7% 1.6% 3.4% 8.5%
Private service 177 86 8 1 9 5 14 24 324
15.8% 37.7% 5.5% 1.1% 29.0% 7.8% 11.0% 20.3% 16.9%
Rural artisan 15 1 1 1 1 1 20
1.3% .4% 1.1% 3.2% 1.6% .8% 1.0%
Business 110 23 3 6 6 1 4 11 164
9.8% 10.1% 2.1% 6.9% 19.4% 1.6% 3.1% 9.3% 8.5%
Self employment 88 21 2 11 6 1 13 13 155
7.9% 9.2% 1.4% 12.6% 19.4% 1.6% 10.2% 11.0% 8.1%
Total 1118 228 146 87 31 64 127 118 1919
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
119
5.19: Pre-LABS principal earner: In more than four-fifths of the cases, the
principal earner in the household was father. The aspirant account for 3 per cent only. But
in Rajasthan, 9 per cent of the aspirants were themselves the principal earner.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
120
Table 5.22: Pre-LABS Principal earner * State Cross tabulation
State Total Pre-LABS
Principal earner AP Chattisgarh Gujarat J&K Karnataka Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Uttar Pradesh
Husband 95 3 2 1 3 104
8.5% 1.3% 1.4% 3.2% 2.4% 5.4%
Self 38 4 2 2 1 6 53
3.4% 1.8% 1.4% 2.3% 3.2% 9.4% 2.8%
Father 856 200 134 74 26 52 107 106 1555
76.6% 87.7% 91.8% 85.1% 83.9% 81.3% 84.3% 89.8% 81.0%
Mother 66 12 5 4 1 1 7 5 101
5.9% 5.3% 3.4% 4.6% 3.2% 1.6% 5.5% 4.2% 5.3%
Brother 61 9 3 5 2 5 10 7 102
5.5% 3.9% 2.1% 5.7% 6.5% 7.8% 7.9% 5.9% 5.3%
Sister 2 2 4
.2% 2.3% .2%
Total 1118 228 146 87 31 64 127 118 1919
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
121
5.20: Post LABS principal earner: During the post LABS course phase, the
father’s role was taken over by the son (the aspirant) and the incidence of father being the
principal earner in pre-LABS period has shrunken from 81 per cent to 76 per cent.
Across states, a striking feature is noticed in the case of Rajasthan where 56 per cent of the
aspirants are the major bread winners in the Household and this is attributable to the impact
of the LABS course.
Table 5.23: Post LABS principal earner * State Cross tabulation
State Total Post
LABS
principal
earner
AP Chattisgarh Gujarat J&K Karnataka RajasthanTamil
Nadu
Uttar
Pradesh
Husband 106 4 4 1 3 118
9.5% 1.8% 2.7% 3.2% 2.4% 6.1%
Self 70 16 9 7 4 36 13 155
6.3% 7.0% 6.2% 8.0% 12.9% 56.3% 10.2% 8.1%
Father 818 190 125 70 24 27 98 106 1458
73.2% 83.3% 85.6% 80.5% 77.4% 42.2% 77.2% 89.8% 76.0%
Mother 55 9 5 3 1 4 5 82
4.9% 3.9% 3.4% 3.4% 3.2% 3.1% 4.2% 4.3%
Brother 65 9 3 5 1 1 9 7 100
5.8% 3.9% 2.1% 5.7% 3.2% 1.6% 7.1% 5.9% 5.2%
Sister 3 2 5
.3% 2.3% .3%
Others 1 1
.1% .1%
Total 1118 228 146 87 31 64 127 118 1919
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
5.21: Benefits from the course: The basic objective of the course offered under
LABS was not only to encourage the aspirants in earning their livelihoods which will have
some bearing on the general economic status of the household, but also to give inputs
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
122
related to social aspects and developing the personality of the aspirant and this is basically
in terms of bringing about positive changes in the mind-set, mannerism, approach to work
etc. Responses were sought from the aspirants on each component of all the dimensions in
order to assess the impact of the course in its entirety. (It may be added that the economic
analysis is confined to only those aspirants who are employed and earning)
5.22: Improvements in consumption patterns and household
material possession: At the aggregate level, food consumption is reported to have
improved in nearly half the cases and 25 per cent reported improvement in general
livelihoods in terms of investing more on the enterprises/petty business etc. in which the
household is engaged with the savings of the aspirant from his/her (new) employment. As
the incomes derived by these aspirants through employment is not appreciable in many
cases, preference was given to food consumption and as a result investments on
bike/TV/fridge etc. are not considerable (in terms of the number of aspirants who invested)
In relative terms, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan emerge as the states with lower number of
aspirants reporting improvement in food consumption and in the case of livelihoods
improvement, both Rajasthan and Karnataka occupy the first two positions.
Graph 5.24: percentage of aspirants according to economic benefits( multiple
response)state-wise
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
AP Chattisgarh Gujarat J &K Karnataka Rajasthan TN UP Total
states
Pe
rce
nta
ge
of
Tra
ine
es
Food consumption Livelihoods Bike/tv/f ridge Ornaments/clothes Mobile phone House related activities Medical insurance
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
123
Further, 60 per cent of the aspirants expressed that they are involved in household decision
making process while 56 per cent of the aspirants were able to command respect from the
elders and slightly over one –third perceived that they are looked up on as role models. In
one-third of the cases, the aspirants were approached for advice for further guidance.
Considerable variation is noticed across states. While Chattisgarh, J&K and Rajasthan are
in forefront in regard to decision making, Rajasthan and J&K are found apart as far as
perception of the aspirants being looked up on as role models is concerned. Even in regard
to ‘advice’, Rajasthan and Karnataka stand apart.
A large number of aspirants ranging from 89 in Rajasthan to 42 per cent in UP reported to
be contributing to household income when the focus was turned to pure economic
implications of the course. In regard to ‘debt repayment’ and ‘savings’, again Rajasthan
occupies the first position with 83 and 67 per cent respectively.
Graph 5.25 (A): Fulfilling family members’ aspirations (multiple responses)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
AP Chattisgarh Gujarat J &K Karnataka Rajasthan TN UP Total
Fulf illing Family members' Aspirations
Perc
enta
ge o
f T
rain
ees
Supporting/ motivating younger siblings Contributing to hh income Better opportunities Debt repayment Started saving
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
124
Graph 5.25 (B): Others Perception (Post training)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
AP
Chattis
garh
Gu
jara
t
J &
K
Karn
ata
ka
Raja
sth
an
TN
UP
Tota
l
States
Perc
en
tag
e o
f T
rain
ees
Decision making Respect from elders Role model For advice
5.23: Besides improvement in various facets of economic development, the course
appears to have made a significant dent on the personality development of the aspirants.
Across 9 components considered under this dimension, the training has impacted relatively
on a larger number of aspirants (1306 or 68 per cent) in making them more ‘confident’.
In the case of 1220 or 64 per cent, there is a positive change in the ‘way of thinking’. The
other developments noticed are in respect of ‘motivation’ and ‘mannerism’ (45 per cent each)
positive change in the ‘mind-set’ (48 per cent) etc (In respect of each component the concept
was explained to the aspirant and based on the response obtained, status on the component
is decided. The list of parameters considered is given in the following table) .
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
125
Table 5.26: Personality development
Nature of benefit AP Chattisgarh Gujarat J &K Karnataka Rajasthan TN UP Total
More responsive 535(48) 161(71) 61(42) 83(95) 27(87) 63(98) 109(86) 32(27) 1071(56)
Better motivated 391(35) 160(70) 55(38) 82(94) 19(61) 63(98) 83(65) 15(13) 868(45)
More awareness 230(21) 63(28) 34(24) 64(74) 8(26) 53(83) 38(30) 12(10) 502(26)
Approach to elders 405(36) 129(57) 42(29) 66(76) 17(55) 61(95) 74(58) 30(25) 824(43)
More ambitious 295(26) 102(45) 35(24) 80(92) 13(42) 57(89) 100(79) 17(14) 699(36)
More confidence 657(59) 180(79) 117(80) 81(93) 26(84) 62(97) 105(83) 78(66) 1306(68)
Mannerism 467(42) 88(39) 50(34) 39(45) 21(68) 61(95) 65(51) 67(57) 858(45)
Mind-set 468(42) 125(55) 81(56) 52(60) 17(55) 59(92) 93(73) 23(20) 918(48)
Thinking 704(63) 176(77) 73(50) 56(64) 23(74) 60(94) 68(54) 59(50) 1220(64)
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
126
It is evident from the above that LABS course helped the aspirants not only on the economic
and social fronts but also on developing their personality further. More specifically, the
significant improvements are discernible in respect of the following:
• Food consumption
• Decision making at the household level
• Contributing to household income
• Developing more confidence
• Becoming more responsible ( in the household context)
5.24: Need to associate with LABS: When asked whether they would be
associated with LABS in future as many as 1834 or 96 per cent of the aspirants replied in the
affirmative. Similar trend is noticed across all states. And in fact, cent per cent of the
aspirants in the case of Karnataka and Rajasthan are favourably disposed to this idea.
In the perception of the aspirants, there are three different proposals – obtaining prospective
information ( 49 per cent), better placement opportunities ( slightly over one –third ) and
interestingly, one-fifth of the aspirants in the total group expressed that they would like to
continue their association with LABS for further training. The states present almost a
consistent trend in respect of the purposes. The aspirants of Rajasthan mostly look for
prospective information (92 per cent), to develop the career (94 per cent) and 91 per cent for
better placement opportunities.
Graph 5.27: Purpose of association with LABS
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
AP
Chhattis
garh
Guja
rat
J&
K
Karn
ata
ka
Raja
sth
an
Tam
il N
adu
Uttar
Pra
de
sh
Tota
l
Pe
rce
nta
ge
of
Tra
ine
es
To develop the career Professional support To undergo further training
For prospective information Better placements opportunity
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
127
It can be further seen from this table that UP is consistent with its low rate of response, not
more than 25 per cent (to develop the career) across the four specified purposes. This is
mainly because UP lags behind many other states on many social and economic
indicators.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
128
Section 6 - Multi- Stakeholders Analysis
6.1 360 degrees concept: As part of social audit, 360 degrees concept based data
were collected from 190 aspirants. The sample in this regard involves collection of opinions,
perceptions from the aspirants, their household members, neighbours and the employers.
The notion behind such an approach was to capture the reactions in regard to not only
organising the course but also in further stages of employment generation. Analysis of the
data on their views will help gain appropriate insights which will be useful in restructuring the
programme.
Multi stakeholder approach is used in this study. It’s an approach where diverse
stakeholders are able to share experiences, learn together and contribute to decisions
leading to effective planning for sustainable development.
While the aspirants, their household members and employers were linked to the project in
some way or other, the aspirant’s neighbours were distantly related. However, it was felt
important to collect views of neighbours to assess how far the project message is reaching
out to others in the society.
6.2 Stakeholders views on LABS: Table 6.1 gives perception of different
stakeholders on LABS. The majority of members across the stakeholders have regarded
that LABS primarily stands for employability and economic advancement of the aspirants.
There is however some variation in thinking among stakeholders in regard to LABS role.
Major part of the aspirants concluded that LABS is for employability, and personality
development in contrast to this only a small proportion of employers seemed to have been
convinced that LABS has some thing to do with advancing career, life-style and personality
development. This reflects that employers are unaware of LABS objectives as enhancing
livelihood opportunities for the youth in difficult economic circumstances.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
129
Graph 6.1: Stakeholders’ perceptions on what LABS stands for( multiple responses)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Trainee Household Neighbour Employer
Pe
rce
nta
g o
f s
tak
eh
old
ers
Employability Career Advancement Life-style advancement
Economic advancement Personality development
In response to uniqueness of LABS, the dominant view that emerged across the
stakeholders was that it is a youth friendly programme. Many household members had
expressed positive views on teaching methods and its pedagogic style. Aspirants and
household members felt that games and communication tools were useful in overall
development of a aspirant.
LABS was considered as a market friendly activity by 62 per cent of aspirants, 54 per cent of
household members and 47 per cent of neighbours. On the contrary, only 26 per cent of
employers have regarded it market friendly. This suggests that LABS must emphasise on
the inclusion of local market requirement in selection of courses.
About 40 per cent of aspirants considered that LABS had promoted cross sector partnership
and context based curricula. While 23 per cent of employers viewed that LABS had
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
130
promoted context based curricula, only 14 per cent of them said it is contributing to cross
sector partnership. The above trends perhaps indicate the need for strengthening links
between LABS and employers.
Graph 6.2: Percentage of stakeholders according to the nature of uniqueness
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Trainee Household Neighbour Employer
Perc
en
tag
e o
f sta
keh
old
er
Youth friendly Market friendly Cross-sector partnership Context based/localized
Table 6.3 reflects the predominant perception of different stakeholders about the target
group of LABS.
Graph 6.3: Percentage of stakeholders according to target groups perception
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Econom
ically
needy
Specia
l
circum
sta
nces
Sch
ool/c
olle
ge
dro
pouts
Wom
en
Diff
ere
ntly
able
d
Pe
rce
nta
ge
of
Sta
ke
ho
lde
rs
Trainee Household Neighbour Employer
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
131
It has emerged from the stakeholders’ perspective that two important categories of people
targeted by LABS are economically needy and school drop outs. Women seem to be one-
third in the choice of the category. It appears from the responses that a few members
across stakeholders have considered that LABS works with youth in difficult circumstances
and for differently-abled.
6.3 Social Impact of LABS: About 79 per cent of LABS aspirants started
contributing to household income after joining LABS (Table 6.4). And also, 53 per cent
seem to have taken responsibility in supporting younger siblings; and in case of UP only 20
per cent of the aspirants have stated to support their younger siblings.
Some of the aspirants also started playing role in supporting family needs and clearing
debts. For instance, some aspirants justified that they come from poorer section; and their
families are mostly daily wage earners therefore, their income is spent to meet family
consumption needs rather than spending on others areas.
Graph 6.4: Percentage of households according to their perception on changes in
roles and responsibilities of aspirants towards family ( multiple responses)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
AP
Chattis
garh
Guja
rat
J&
K
Karn
ata
ka
Raja
sth
an
Ta
mil
Nadu
U.P
Tota
l
Perc
en
tag
e o
f H
ou
se
ho
lds
Supporting younger siblings Household income
Exploring better opportunities In clearing old debts
Started saving
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
132
Graph 6.5: Percentage of households according to their preference in sending
children to school or work place
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100A
P
Chattis
garh
Guja
rat
J&
K
Karn
ata
ka
Raja
sth
an
Tam
il N
adu
Uttar
Pra
desh
Pe
rce
nta
ge
of
Ho
us
eh
old
s
Work Place School
Table 6.6 shows that 66 per cent of neighbours responded that there is significant change in
the aspirant in terms of becoming more independent. Some of the neighbours also felt (52%)
that there is not much change in the income of the aspirants and 50 per cent of the
neighbours have stated that there is change in quality of life.
Table 6.6: Neighbours’ views on aspirants (%)
Increase in quality
of life
Increase in average
income
Youth becoming
independent
Less change 33 29 22
Significant
change
50 52 66
No change 17 19 12
In table 6.7, 57 and 62 per cent of employers suggested that aspirants are more committed
and more motivated respectively. If we blend neighbours and employers’ views (table 6.6 &
6.7) it can be summed up that youth are more committed and dedicated towards work which
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
133
reflects that after the training, youth are feeling economically and socially independent to
take their own decisions. This also indicates the improvement in the Aspirants.
Table 6.7: Employers’ views on aspirants’ performance at work place (%)
Trait Percentage
More committed 57
More motivated 62
Table 6.8 suggests that 58 per cent of neighbours are willing to propagate on the usefulness
of LABS to youth. In fact 20 per cent of the neighbours have already enrolled their children in
LABS; of these 13 per cent expressed that LABS is imparting good learning skills to youth.
Table 6.8: Propagation of LABS (%)
If yes, explain experience Propagation
LABS
Children sent
to LABS Training is useful for
seeking livelihood
Good skills are
imparted
Personality
developed
58 20 6 13 1
6.4 Economic impact of LABS: Table 6.9 indicates that 74 per cent of the
aspirants’ households are convinced that there is improvement in terms of livelihood
opportunities (This implies that in relative terms the employability status of the youth
(aspirants) has improved by virtue of being exposed to LABS intervention). Similarly 62 per
cent of households viewed that there is also improved access to quality food. There was
also affirmative response from 47 per cent of households in terms of improvement in health
status and 56 percent on the improvement in education. What is more interesting is that in
the case of 31 per cent of households indebtedness has also reduced.
Table 6.9: Household impact (%)
Response Indebtedness Access
opportunities
Health
status
Food
security
Education
Increased 31 74 47 62 56
Remained as it
is
53 24 51 36 41
Decreased 17 2 2 2 3
Table 6.10 shows that 69 per cent of the aspirants are supporting their households in
meeting consumption needs. 34 per cent of the aspirants’ indicated that they are extending
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
134
support in improving family livelihoods. Interestingly, 12 per cent of the aspirants were able
to spend their income in buying bike & T.V and 6 per cent in clothes. This indicates that
aspirants are able to contribute to family improvement and personal needs.
Table 6.10: Benefits of income (%)
Food
consumption
Enhancement
of livelihoods
Bike/TV/Fridge Clothes /
ornaments
Mobile House
related
activity
Medical
policy
M
69 34 12 6 1 3 3
M: Mentioned in categories
Table 6.11 expresses that 90 per cent of the employers are satisfied with the overall job
performance of the aspirants who are continuing work for longer period whereas only 9 per
cent opined that aspirants are not continuing with their job. This coincides with table 6.7,
where 57 per cent of the employers suggested that aspirants are more committed at his/her
work place.
Table 6.11: Employers’ views on Aspirants discontinuing work (%)
No 90
Yes 9
As shown in table 6.12, 54 per cent of the neighbours view that after undergoing the training,
aspirant has acquired adequate skills in fetching suitable jobs. In the sequence,25 per cent
of neighbours address that available jobs are at far off places due to which aspirants are not
able to continue with their jobs for longer period. This situation is prevailing more in larger
number of girls as most of their work places are at distantly located.
To reduce this inconvenience, a few girls suggested that if recruitment can be facilitated at
one place with some group of girls of the same village, then it will be possible for them to
stay at a single job place or travel for long distance jobs together.
Table 6.12: LABS as employability source (%)
Chances are
bright
Job market
is tight
Inadequate training for
finding a suitable job
Getting jobs at
far places
Not getting better
placements
54 5 6 25 1
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
135
6.5 Personality development: This section focuses on the personality
development aspects of the aspirants who attended the LABS programme. As will be seen
from table 6.13, aspirants (61 per cent) mentioned that they have become more responsible
in relation to economic activities in particular and other activities in general and 72 per cent
reiterated that they have gained confidence after coming into contact with LABS.
Table 6.13: Personality change in Aspirants (%)
More responsive More motivation More confidence More ambitious More awareness
61 48 72 41 22
This correlates with the table 6.14, where aspirants (67 per cent) admitted that their way of
thinking in general has changed a lot; and 56 per cent of them admitted that there is also
change in attitude towards life. Also 52 per cent of the aspirants have perceived change in
their mannerism (behaviour to elders etc.)
Table 6.14: Behavioural change (%)
Approach to elders Mannerism Attitude Way of thinking
43 52 56 67
6.5.1 The table 6.15 shows that 56 per cent of employers are of the view that aspirants need
more exercise on technical aspect; and 45 per cent of them suggest that communication part
must be developed in aspirants. Especially in CRS and Hospitality sector courses, aspirants
must be given additional training keeping in view their grasping levels and job requirements.
36 per cent suggested that aspirants were not able to adjust in the work conditions and 27
per cent expressed dissatisfaction on time management inability by the aspirant.
Table 6.15: Employers View on Aspirants Development (in %)
Skill Percentage
Technical 56
Communication 45
Time management 27
Adapt to work conditions 36
Table 6.16 suggests that 45 per cent of the aspirants, 35 per cent of households and 27 per
cent employers are appreciating the teaching methods and approaches (e.g., WRM) of
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
136
LABS. The employers in particular liked WRM module. About 14 per cent of the aspirants
liked the friendly approach of the LABS’ staff. In fact, some aspirants even felt that this was
a positive feature of LABS when compared to their school days.
“The overall experience working with Dr Reddy’s has been good .We mostly have
them joining us as crew aspirants and have success stories of Labs students who
have moved up the ladder to become managers at McDonalds.
I would like to thank LABS for all the support that they have extended to McDonalds.”
Junaid Kader –Operations Consultant Mac Donald’s
Graph 6.16: Percentage of stakeholders according to aspects liked about LABS
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Fri
en
dlin
ess o
f
tea
ch
ers
Incu
lca
tin
g
go
od
dis
cip
lin
e
Co
nce
pt o
f
he
lpin
g p
oo
r
Co
mm
un
ica
tio
n
skills
Pe
rso
na
lity
de
ve
lop
me
nt
Pro
vis
ion
fo
r
pla
ce
me
nt
No
ge
nd
er
bia
s
Ca
n’t s
ay
Pe
rce
nta
ge
of
Sta
ke
ho
lde
rs
Trainee 45.3 Household 34.7 Employer 27. 1
6.5.2.: It is interesting to note that many of the stakeholders liked the LABS for its gender
sensitive approach. LABS approach has enabled a positive atmosphere for participation of
females in so far as acquiring entry level skills are concerned. In this regard, even parents
were appreciative of LABS. It was felt across the states that LABS in a way helped females
to come out of stereotype in opting professions. But at the same time, courses must be
customised and prioritized keeping in view females’ choices.
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To some extent stakeholders have also liked LABS contribution in instilling discipline among
aspirants. There is variation in responses related to placement, personality development and
communication skills across stakeholders. It must be noted that they may have to give some
thinking on this in order to meet expectations of the employers.
6.6: Views on changes required on LABS: Table 6.17 gives stakeholders’
views with regard to changes required in LABS. The most important aspect that emerged
from social accounts data collection is to improvement in the management of practical
sessions in LABS. For instance, all the following responses are related to course
management – ‘computer skills to be made integral part of all the courses, emphasis on
practical classes and allocation of time for the same, and timely provision of equipment’. In
addition, some aspirants are looking for induction of advanced courses in computers and
others. For example, a person working in glass making work would like to have suitable
module to equip him/her in computer designing. Such kind of needs in different sectors must
be identified and acted upon to create suitable employment avenues according to the
aspirants’ requirements.
Graph 6.17: Percentage of stakeholders according to changes required in LABS
0
5
10
15
Em
phas
is o
n p
rac
tica
l
Min
imum
com
pute
r skills
in a
ll
cours
es
Tim
e p
lannin
g a
nd a
llocatio
n o
f
time f
or
pra
ctic
al
Tim
ely
pro
vis
ion o
f eq
uip
ments
Sessio
ns o
n a
dvan
ced c
om
pute
r
skills
Fa
cilita
tors
must
gen
era
te
inte
rest
Appro
priate
loc
atio
n o
f th
e c
entr
e
Basic
facili
ties in
ce
ntr
e
Ta
rgetin
g th
e p
oor
pe
ople
Exte
nd c
ours
e d
ura
tion
Pos
t tr
ain
ing f
ollo
w-u
p
Perc
en
tag
e o
f s
take
ho
lders
Trainee Households Employers
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
138
Lack of basic facilities has also emerged as an important concern among 10 per cent of the
aspirants and employers. Women aspirants in particular are facing problems due to lack of
toilets, water and infrastructure. In addition, the aspirants seem to have inconvenience in
relation to location of the centre. For instance, in AP and UP, aspirants had to travel long
distances and invest in travel expenses, which is not affordable. In view of this, aspirants felt
that provision of bus pass is necessary.
It was also felt that the course duration must be justified in equipping the required entry level
skills of the aspirants; and regular follow-up during post course period.
About 38 per cent of aspirants, 30 per cent of households and employers have expressed
the need for including courses that have demand in the local industries and establishments.
In their opinion sectoral growth is not only taking place in new economy, but also in
traditional activities (Box 1). For instance, aspirants in UP felt that there is immense scope
for glass making and brass industries. Similarly, potential for food processing and
handicrafts was felt in J&K. From the above it is evident that there is a strong urge among
aspirants to get trained in traditional activities also.
At least 10 per cent of the aspirants and households, and 5.8 per cent of employers
indicated that duration of the course must be increased. In this regard, two different view
points have emerged from the field. First, aspirants didn’t get sufficient exposure to practical
inputs due to delay in provision of equipments (e.g., computers), facilitators, etc. They were
of the view that three-month duration is enough if the above constraints are addressed. And
the second, there is variation in age and grasping levels of aspirants, which is coming in the
way of learning. So, special attention must be given to the slow-learner aspirants who are
not able to cope up with the regular course schedule in addition to induction classes.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
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In Kakinada, at a colony it was observed that in total 10 girls who had undergone training in BSPA
course only two are working and the rest are idle due to lack of job opportunities, low salary, long
working hours and long distance from respective places.
Out of them, six aspirants further expressed that initially they worked for months together without
payment which was the main cause for discontinuing the job.
Table 6.18: Emerging priorities of LABS by Stakeholders
Future priorities Aspirant Household Employer
Additional courses 39.5 31 32
Duration needs to be increased 10.0 10.5 5.8
Established centre with efficient faculty 7.4 1.1 5.8
Expansion of geographical coverage 4.7 0.5 6.3
Financial assistance 1.1 0.5 0.5
More publicity about LABS 1.6 0.5 2.1
Certification of course by the Government 0.5 0 1.1
Need to cover more poor people 5.8 7.9 4.2
Physically handicapped should be paid more attention 0.5 0 0.5
Provide bus passes or locate centres at a nearby place 0.5 0.5 1.1
Provide suitable job 7.4 18.9 3.7
Providing platform for interaction / guidance 4.7 0.5 1.6
No answer 16.3 27.9 35.3
Though a few aspirants have felt the need of certification of courses by the Government,
aspirants in the case of Bed-side Patience Assistance (BSPA) course, seem to be paid low
wages and given secondary priority in the work place. As a result, BSPA aspirants in AP are
facing tough time to continue with the work. In some cases there are aspirants who are
even working without payment of wages.
Some of the stakeholders have expressed the need for provision of suitable job, efficient
faculty, targeting youth from the poorer sections and guidance after the course period.
Across the states, aspirants felt a need for a platform, where they can share and resolve
their
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
140
problems during the post course period. The following expressions from the field reiterate
such a need.
• Several aspirants have left the entry level job, as there was mismatch between
course attended and employers need.
• Some aspirants have got only part time jobs and after some time they became
jobless. They faced problem to get another job in the absence of information and
wherewithal.
• Problems were faced by the aspirants as some employers put them to long hours of
work with out proper remuneration and food.
• Some aspirants felt that they were not properly equipped and their entry level job
was also not providing any opportunities to develop further in the career.
6.7 Important Reflections from 360 degrees: After analysis of the 360
degree aspects, the following predominant dimensions are emerging.
Graph 6.19: Connecting Stakeholders’ views
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
LABS p
erc
eption
(em
plo
yability)
LABS
uniq
ueness(y
outh
frie
ndly
)
Targ
et
gro
up(e
conom
ically
needy)
Teachin
g m
eth
ods
and a
ppro
aches
Basic
facilitie
s in
centre
Additio
nal cours
es
Perc
enta
ge o
f Sta
kehold
ers
Trainee Household Neighbour Employer
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
141
Supporting siblings
LABS programme have encouraged the youth to not only develop in career but also to help their families
and own siblings in pursuing higher studies and so.
Mr. Nagesh Kumar a school drop out is one such fine example. He undertook the course in CRS
(Customer relation service) as per his choice and completed gainfully within three month. At present he is
working in Hero Honda show room as sales boy earning around Rs. 1300.In spite of low salary he
encourages his brother for higher studies.
There is full agreement across the stakeholders with reference to their perception on “LABS
stands for employability”. But ironically this percentage does not translate aspirations of the
aspirants who want to improve more for which guidance is needed. But there seems to be a
moderate degree of agreement on “target group” and “uniqueness of LABS” among the
stakeholders.
The social impact in relation to the aspirants’ role and responsibilities towards families’
shows moderate degree of agreement as 79 per cent of the aspirants are claiming their
contribution of income of the household which coincides with the 74 per cent families’ views.
Likewise, 90 per cent of employers are satisfied on aspirants’ performance at work place
which seems to be moderate as 69 per cent of the aspirants’ income contributes towards
food consumption which reflects a positive note.
There is moderate degree of agreement among the stakeholders regarding teaching
methods and approaches of LABS but there seems to be demand for additional courses.
There is agreement in the perceptions among stakeholders regarding basic facilities in the
centre as most of them are lacking basic facilities like water, toilets and proper infrastructure
in their centre.
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142
Section 7 - EMPLOYERS
7.1 Market Centric approach: LABS follows market centric approach in selecting
courses and contextualizing the curricula, etc. In fact as per the design, employers must be
involved at different stages of the programme. Towards this end, LABS used the following
process:
• Market scan
• Involvement of industries and business establishments in curricula development.
• Exposure visits by the aspirants to industries
• Inviting members from industries to deliver guest lectures
• B2Y network
• Placement for the aspirants
7.2 Distribution of employers: In this section, the outcomes from the above
processes are analyzed. The section also examines the performance of the aspirants at the
work place; and actual involvement of employers in the programme. As explained in the
methodology section, the data were collected from 336 companies. Table 7.1 shows the
nature and type of companies covered in the social accounts.
Almost half the employers covered in the social accounts belong to fields of marketing7 (23.8
per cent) and hospitals (23.2 per cent). In addition, the employers are from the industries
such as mechanical (8.3 per cent). Hotels (6.5 per cent), schools (6.3 per cent), computer
centres (3.3 per cent) and banks (2.4 per cent) were also covered. The employers covered
from small enterprises such as photo shops, newspaper, Xerox centres, printing press, etc.,
(25 per cent) were categorized as ‘others’. A small portion of government establishments
(1.2 per cent) were also covered. This is understandable, that the majority of the aspirants
were provided placements only in private organizations.
7 It refers to jobs pertaining to sales, reliance services, CRS, etc in various companies.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
143
Table 7.1: Distribution of employers by nature of industries across the states
Primary business State
hospital Marketing Hotel Computer School Mechanical Bank Govt. Others
Andhra Pradesh 62
(26.1)
58
(24.4)
10
(4.2)
4
(1.7)
15
(6.3)
22
(9.2)
7
(2.9)
4
(1.7)
56
23.5
Chattisgarh 10
(28.6)
4
(11.4)
0
(0)
1
(2.9)
4
(11.4)
1
(2.9)
1
(2.9)
0
(0)
14
40.0
Gujarat 3
(15.8)
5
(26.3)
2
(10.5)
2
(10.5)
0
(0)
3
(15.8)
0
(0)
0
(0)
4
21.1
J&K 1
(11.1)
2
(22.2)
3
(33.3)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
3
(33.3)
Karnataka 0 3
(100)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
Rajasthan 2
(13.3)
2
(13.3)
6
(40.0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
2
(13.3)
0
(0)
0
(0)
3
(20.0)
Tamil Nadu 0
0
1
(25.0)
0
(0)
2
(50.0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
1
(25.0)
Uttar Pradesh 0
0
5
(38.5)
1
(7.7)
2
(15.4)
2
(15.4)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
3
(23.1)
Total 78
(23.2)
80
(23.8)
22
(6.5)
11
(3.3)
21
(6.3)
28
(8.3)
8
(2.4)
4
(1.2)
84
(25.0)
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
144
Table 7.2 shows the designation of the respondents from the respective companies and
other establishments. About 44 per cent of the respondents were representing small
enterprises thus implying that a considerable number of the aspirants were absorbed in such
industries. The respondents in the case of other industries were managers (36 per cent) and
senior officials (20 per cent).This also reflects the local area economy development .
Table 7.2: Designation of the respondent by the states
State Total
Designation A.P Chhattisgarh Gujarat J.K Karnataka Rajasthan T.N U.P
Owner 109 23 8 1 6 147
(45.8%) (65.7%) (42.1%) (11.1%) (46.2%) (43.8%)
Manager 76 10 10 6 1 11 3 5 122
(39.1%) (28.6%) (52.6%) (56.7%) (33.3%) (73.3%) (75.0%) (38.5%) (36.3%)
Senior
official
52 2 1 2 2 4 1 2 67
(22.2%) (5.7%) (5.3%) (22.2%) (66.7%) (26.7%) (25.0%) (15.4%) (19.9%)
Total 238 35 19 9 3 15 4 13 336
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Table 7.3 provides the distribution of employers as per the establishment of the
industries/companies. It is understood that a majority (about 62 %) of the employers have
established their companies between the years of 2000 and 2006. 27 per cent of the
companies were established from 1990 and 1999 whereas 11 per cent of the companies
were started between 1961 and 1980. It may be inferred from the above that the LABS
aspirants are mostly absorbed by the recently started industries.
Table 7.3: Companies according to Year of establishment-state-wise
Year of
Establish
ment
A.P Chattis
garh
Gujarat Jammu
&
Kashmir
Karnataka Rajasthan Tamil
Nadu
U P Total
1961-1980 8 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 11
3.4 5.7 5.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.3
1981-1990 15 6 0 1 0 2 0 2 26
6.3 17.1 0.0 11.1 0.0 13.3 0.0 15.4 7.7
1990-1999 64 13 8 1 1 3 0 1 91
26.9 37.1 42.1 11.1 33.3 20.0 0.0 7.7 27.1
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
145
2000-2006 151 14 10 7 2 10 4 10 208
63.4 40.0 52.6 77.8 66.7 66.7 100.0 76.9 61.9
Total 238 35 19 9 3 15 4 13 336
100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Generally, the size of the company is defined on the basis of number of branches and total
number of staff employed. It is understood that a majority of the aspirants are absorbed by
the small companies and petty business establishments. It can be inferred that 81 per cent
of the employers have only one branch and about 7 per cent have two branches. The rest
(22 percent) of them have more than three branches. In other words the major chunk of
the aspirants is recruited only in small sector.
7.3 Perception on LABS: The sample employers were asked to indicate their
perception on various components of LABS courses. In respect of each of the components,
the perception was sought on a four – point scale, the cues being 0, 1,2and 3 where 0 and 3
represent extreme level on appropriateness /relevance continuum. The average score in
respect of each component is computed taking in to account the score obtained by employer
in the range of 0 -3
Table 7.4 clearly indicates that employers have scored highest for employability (2.52),
followed by economic advancement and personality development. This partly matches with
the perception of aspirants (discussed in section 4.2). The lowest score was obtained in the
case of life style advancement.
Table 7.4: Employers’ perception on what does LABS stand for
Component Score Rank
Employability 2.52 1
Career Advancement 1.29 4
Life-style advancement 1.17 5
Economic advancement 1.48 2
Personality development 1.38 3
Table 7.5 gives the scores obtained by employers in relation to the uniqueness of LABS. It
indicates that the employers perceived that LABS is unique in terms of youth friendly. The
scores also suggested that market friendly comes next in the rank. It may be interesting to
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
146
note that the employers scored low on cross-sector partnership and context based courses.
There is a total match between perception of aspirant and employers in this regard.
Table 7.5: Employers perception on uniqueness about LABS
Component Score Rank
Youth friendly 1.98 1
Market friendly 1.49 2
Cross-sector partnership 0.98 4
Context based/localized 1.09 3
Table 7.7 gives employers perception about LABS target group. The employers have scored
highest in respect to economically needy followed by school and college drop-outs. The
women were given third importance. The groups in special circumstance and differently-
abled got fourth and fifth place respectively.
Table 7.6: Employers perception about LABS target group
Component Score Rank
Economically needy 2.37 1
Group in special circumstances 0.84 4
School/college dropouts 1.93 2
Women 1.23 3
Differently abled 0.51 5
While the above indicates the spontaneous reflection of employers’ understanding on LABS,
the field interactions with the employers give a feeling that most of them do not have deeper
insights on LABS. They primarily view it as an employment generation institution to the
youth in general and school drop outs in particular. Some of the expressions from the
employers reveal that LABS engagement is nominal in promoting cross sector partnership.
Given the market centric approach of LABS, it may have to look at operational aspects of
B2Y etc.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
147
7.5 Acquaintance of employers with the LABS: The table 7.8 shows that
43 per cent of the employers came to know about LABS through ‘LABS staff’, followed by
B2Y network (18 per cent) at aggregate level. LABS’ staffs seem to have played a lead role
in popularizing LABS to the employees, excepting in the case of Chattisgarh – where media
has played an important role. The role of B2Y is predominant in J&K (55.6%) followed by
Karnataka (33.3%), while it has no role in the case of Tamil Nadu – where in employers
came to know about LABS from colleagues and media.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
148
Table 7.7: Employers’ acquaintance with LABS
Source of information
media B2Y internet colleagues LABS staff Others ( road shows, friends, etc) total
State
No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
Andhra Pradesh 21
(8.8)
38
(16.0)
(0.4) 28
(11.8)
96(40.9) 41(17.2) 238
(100)
Chattisgarh 10
(28.6)
9(25.7) 0(0) 4(11.4) 9(25.7) 4(11.4) 35
(100)
Gujarat (5.3) 5(26.3) 0(0) 1(5.3) 11(57.9) 5(26.3) 19
(100)
J&K 0(0) 5(55.6) 0(0) 0(0) 5(55.6) 3(33.3) 9
(100)
Karnataka 0 (0) 1(33.3) 0(0) 1(33.3) 1(33.3) 0(0) 3
(100)
Rajasthan 0 (0) 2(13.4) 0(0) 0(0) 13(86.7) 0(0) 15
(100)
Tamilnadu 1(25.0) 0(0) 0(0) 2(50.0) 1(25.0) 1(25.0) 4
(100)
Uttar Pradesh 0 (0) 2(15.4) 0(0) 0(0) 8(61.5) 2(15.4) 13
(100)
Total 33(9.8) 60(17.9) 1(0.3) 36(10.7) 144(42.9) 56(16.7) 336
(100)
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
149
7.6 Usefulness of LABS to the employers: Table 7.8 indicates that the
(53.0%) employers (at the aggregate level) are seeing LABS’ contribution in terms of
providing skilled force. It means that employers are seeing LABS as a provider of skilled
human resources. In this regard, J&K and Rajasthan have topped this list. About 30 per
cent of them acknowledged that LABS is also useful in reducing their recruitment costs.
Further more, 23 per cent of employers viewed that LABS is useful in terms of saving initial
training cost in recruitment process. A very few employers (5.7 per cent) considered that
LABS is a source for getting dedicated staff. This is a feedback that should be valuable in
revisiting the Work Readiness Module and also the life skills module.
Table 7.8: Usefulness of LABS to the employers
Benefits to the employer State
Recruitment
cost reduction
Availability of
skilled force
Saving in
initial
training cost
Getting more
dedicative
staff
Total
Andhra
Pradesh
66
(27.7)
131
(55.0)
37 (15.5) 14
(5.9)
238
(100)
Chastisgarh 17
(48.6)
17
(48.6)
15 (42.9) 1 (2.9) 35
(100)
Gujarat 5
(26.3)
6
(31.6)
10 (52.6) 2
(10.5)
19
(100)
J&K 3
(33.3)
7
(77.8)
2 (22.2) 0
(0)
9
(100)
Karnataka 2
(66.7)
2
(66.7)
3
(100)
0
(0)
3
(100)
Rajasthan 2
(13.3)
11
(73.3)
1
(6.7)
1
(6.7)
15
(100)
Tamil Nadu 2
(50.0)
1
(25.0)
2 (50.0) 0
(0)
4
(100)
Uttar
Pradesh
2
(15.4)
3
(23.1)
6 (46.2) 1
(7.7)
13
(100)
Total 99
(29.5)
178
(53.0)
76 (22.6) 19
(5.7)
336
(100)
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
150
7.7 Employers’ relationship with LABS: Only 22 per cent of the total
employers have expressed that they maintain formal or informal relationship with LABS in
connection with providing employment to aspirants and B2Y network (Table 7.19). The
employers in Chattisgarh and Tamil Nadu have stronger relationship with LABS with regard
to B2Y network and providing employment to the aspirants respectively. However in the
case of the rest, the relationship was only informal/limited in the sense that besides
arranging exposure visits and giving guest lectures in the courses, the employers also gave
guidance to the aspirants, when approached, in matters relating to career building.
Table 7.9: Employers’ relationship with LABS
Kind of relationship
Only informal/limited
relationship
Business Employment Total %
States
No. % No. % No. % No %
Andhra
Pradesh
183 76.9 18 7.6 37 15.5 238 100
Chattisgarh 24 68.6 8 22.9 3 8.6 35 100
Gujarat 12 63.2 3 15.8 4 21.1 19 100
J&K 9 100 0 0 0 0.0 9 100
Karnataka 3 100 0 0 0 0.0 3 100
Rajasthan 14 93.3 1 6.7 0 0.0 15 100
Tamil Nadu 3 75.0 0 0 1 25.0 4 100
Uttar Pradesh 11 84.6 0 0 2 15.4 13 100
Total 259 77.1 30 8.9 47 14.0 336 100
7.8 The interaction between the LABS aspirants and the business
community: LABS promotes interaction between the aspirants and the business
community primarily though B2Y network, recruitment, industrial visits, and guest lecture.
The aspirants belonging to the courses such as hospitality, BSPA, CRS, etc., have been
taken for an exposure to the company as part of the Work Readiness Module (WRM) in
acquainting the aspirants with the actual work environment.
Table 7.10 indicates that 39 percent of the employers have contacts with the aspirants
through recruitment. It is predominantly seen in the case of the states like Rajasthan, Tamil
Nadu, Chattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh. It is widely noticed that only 20 per cent of the
business community have the relationship with LABS aspirants by B2Y network and 21
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
151
percent of employers facilitated interaction with the aspirants through guest lectures. LABS
centres in Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu seem to have
conducted a few guest lectures. Similarly, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu centres
have organized less industrial visits.
Graph 7.10: Percentage of employers according to their interaction with LABS
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Andhra
Pra
desh
Chastisgarh
Guja
rath
J&
K
Karn
ata
ka
Raja
sth
an
Tam
ilnadu
Uttar
Pra
desh
Tota
l
Perc
en
tag
e o
f E
mp
loyers
B2Y network Recruitment
Guest lectures Trainees visit to industry
Others (friends& neighbours)
7.9: Pattern of clearing interviews by aspirants: Table 7.11 shows that
about 59 percent of the aspirants got through interview in the first instance itself. It may be
noted that 39 percent of the aspirants had to attend interview more than five times to get the
job. The aspirants who cleared interview in the first attempt are higher in UP, AP and
Chattisgarh. A majority of students had to attend interviews several times in order to get job
in the case of Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir and Karnataka (This needs to be interpreted
cautiously in view of the small size of the sample).
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
152
Graph 7.11: Percentage of employers according to the no. of aspirants clearing the
interview
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90A P
Chattis
garh
Guja
rat
J &
K
Karn
ata
ka
Raja
sth
an
TN
UP
Tota
l
perc
enta
ge o
f Em
ply
ers
1 2 3 4 5 and above
7.10 Recruitment of aspirants to the industries by alumni: Table 7.12
presents the role of alumni in recruitment of the LABS’ aspirants into the company. It
indicates that in the case of 15 percent of employers the alumni has played a role in
recruitment of aspirants into companies. The alumni seem to have played a major role in
recruitments in the case of Tami Nadu followed by Jammu and Kashmir (75 and 44 per
cent respectively). This clearly suggests that there are limited contacts among the aspirants
after the completion of the course. It also appears that in the case of several companies the
need for recruiting additional staff may not have been there as these organizations are of
smaller size.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
153
Graph 7.12: Percentage of employers according to LABS aspirants recruited through
LABS alumni
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
AP
Chattis
garh
Guja
rat
J&
K
Karn
ata
ka
Raja
sth
an
TN
UP
Tota
l
Perc
en
tag
e o
f E
mp
loyers
0 1 2
7.11 Employers’ satisfaction with the skill level and the quality of
the work: It is estimated that the satisfaction of the employers with the LABS’ aspirants’
performance is quite high. It is observed from the table 7.13 that almost 94 percent of the
employers are fully satisfied with the skill levels, and performance of the aspirants. It is
obvious that in case of the states like Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Gujarat and Rajasthan that all
the employers are satisfied with the aspirants’ performance. The dissatisfaction is noticed in
the limited number of employers. This scenario is widely found in Tamil Nadu. The reasons
cited by employers for their dissatisfaction were lack of sufficient technical skills,
communication skills and practical knowledge in the aspirant. This suggests that there is a
need to focus on providing additional skills in all aspects to the aspirants.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
154
Graph 7.13 Percentage of employers according to their satisfaction with LABS
aspirants’ performance
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
A P
Ch
astisg
arh
Gu
jara
th
J&
K
Ka
rna
taka
Ra
jasth
an
TN
UP
To
tal
Pe
rce
nta
ge
of
Em
plo
ye
rs
Satisfied Not satisfied
7.12 Number of aspirants quit/dismissed from the job: Table 7.14
shows the rate of retention of the aspirants after the placements. It discloses the fact that
at the aggregate level the rate of retention in the jobs is considerably high (87 percent). In
employment aspect the states like Karnataka and Rajasthan do not have any drop out rates.
But in the case of Gujarat highest drop out rate (about 63 percent) was observed followed by
Tamil Nadu (25 percent). The reasons stated by the employers for aspirants leaving the job
were domestic problems or better job opportunities.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
155
Graph 7.14 Percentage of employers as per retention rate
89 91
37
89
100 100
75
9287
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
AP
Chattisg
a rh
Gujara
tJ&K
Karnata
ka
Rajasth
an TN UP
Tota
l
Pe
rce
nta
ge
of
Em
plo
ye
rs
7.13 Association with LABS: There are different ways of the employers
associating themselves with LABS courses and this could primarily be in the form of
providing opportunities to the aspirants for exposure visits/apprenticeship and also helping
LABS in the development of curriculum. Association on these lines will be mutually
beneficial in the sense that the employers will have more choice in selecting right candidates
for their jobs and at the same time the aspirants will also stand benefited in view of the
additional opportunities made open to them for further enhancing their skill levels.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
156
Table: 7.15 coming to know about exposure visits/job assignment
State Total
coming
to
know
about
LABS
Andhra
Pradesh
Chhattisgarh Gujarat Jammu
&
Kashmir
Karnataka RajasthanTamil
Nadu
Uttar
Pradesh
No 133 7 10 5 11 2 11 179
55.9% 20.0% 52.6% 55.6% 73.3% 50.0% 84.6% 53.3%
Yes 105 28 9 4 3 4 2 2 157
44.1% 80.0% 47.4% 44.4% 100.0% 26.7% 50.0% 15.4% 46.7%
Total 238 35 19 9 3 15 4 13 336
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
The analysis of the data on this aspect suggests that only in the case of 47 per cent of the
employers the exposure visit was organized (table-7.15). But at the state level, interestingly,
all the three employers in Karnataka and only 15 per cent of employers in the case of UP,
have reported such visits.. As the picture is not very encouraging in some states, some
intervention is necessary on the part of DRF (This conclusion is drawn on the assumption
that the study in its random sampling covered all the important employers who have enough
avenues to arrange for the exposure visits and also for apprenticeship.)
Employer Case Study: Jain Irrigation
One of the major Employers for LABS who have provided opportunities to around 80 LABS aspirants are Jain
Irrigation. The area is MI –Micro Irrigation and the placements take place in the various districts of Andhra
Pradesh. The person who interviewed was Mr G Surya Sinivas (Zonal Manager). It was revealed that Jain
Irrigation saves 30-40% of Recruitment costs while hiring a LABS aspirant. While the entire Training costs
which is approximately Rs 5000 is saved for the company while recruiting a LABS aspirant. This training is a 15
day program which takes place in Jalgaon.
Attrition rate of Jain irrigation is around 30% and around 60% of the LABS aspirants have been retained in the
job. However the rest have left due to the location of the job.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
157
Table: 7.16 Usefulness of assignment of exposure visits and guest lectures:
State Total
The
assignment
is useful
Andhra
Pradesh Chhattisgarh Gujarat
Jammu &
Kashmir Karnataka Rajasthan Tamil Nadu
Uttar
Pradesh
No 127 5 9 5 1 10 1 8 166
53.4% 14.3% 47.4% 55.6% 33.3% 66.7% 25.0% 61.5% 49.4%
Yes 111 30 10 4 2 5 3 5 170
46.6% 85.7% 52.6% 44.4% 66.7% 33.3% 75.0% 38.5% 50.6%
Total 238 35 19 9 3 15 4 13 336
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
When asked whether the exposure visit is useful (in their perception) again only 51 per cent
of the aspirants replied in affirmative (table 7.16). While Chattisgarh is comfortable with
more than 86 per cent reporting that the visit was useful and it has prepared the aspirants in
taking up jobs, only one third in the case of Rajasthan replied on similar lines (It may be
noted that the employers who gave replies to this question need not necessarily be those
who arranged exposure visits)
7.14 Curriculum development: Involvement of the employers in the development
of curriculum has immense value as it suggests changes/ improvements in the existing
curriculum in respect of various trades reflecting the actual job requirements in the real
situation. But the position, as the analysis shows, leaves much to be desired. At the
aggregate level, about one- tenth only were taken into confidence for the task under
reference and across states Tamil Nadu registers the largest percentage of 75 points.
Interestingly, in the case of Karnataka which reports that all the employers were involved in
providing exposure visits not even a single employer was approached for the purpose.
(Again, this piece of information needs to be interpreted a little cautiously because of the
smaller base) (Table 7.17).
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
158
Graph: 7.17 : Percentage of employers according to their involvement in development
of curriculum
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
AP
Chhattis
garh
Guja
rat
J&
K
Karn
ata
ka
Raja
sth
an
T N UP
Tota
l
Perc
en
tag
e o
f E
mp
loyers
No
Yes
7.15 Improvements in the curriculum: Only about one-third at the aggregate
level felt that the existing curriculum needed improvements as per the Industrial norms and
across states, the need was felt more in the case of Chattisgarh (table 7.18).
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
159
Graph: 7.18: Percentage of employers according to the nature of improvements
needed:
0102030405060708090
100
Andhr
a Pra
desh
Cha
ttisg
arh
Gujar
at
Jam
mu
& K
ashm
ir
Karna
taka
Raj
asth
an
Tamil Nad
u
Utta
r Pra
desh
Total
Perc
en
tag
e o
f T
rain
ees
Communication skills Technical skills Time managementPractical knowledge No additions needed Cont say
Independent of the state, the employers suggested that the changes are very much
necessary in the curriculum so as to make the aspirants improve their technical knowledge
and communication skills. Some employers also felt that in the curriculum there must be an
adequate provision for imparting more practical knowledge.
7.16 Aspirants getting adjusted to the work environment: The course
offered by LABS is comprehensive in its scope. Besides explaining technical concepts,
Work Readiness Module (WRM) through which the aspirants are prepared to face the
interviews, getting adjusted to the new environment etc. is one of the prime components of
the course. Against this background, it is not surprising when about 83 per cent mentioned
that the LABS aspirants get adjusted more quickly than others. This trend is more
pronounced in J&K and Chattisgarh where cent per cent of the employers agreed with the
above proposition (table 7.19).
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
160
Table: 7.19 whether the LABS aspirants get adjusted to the work environment
State Total get
adjusted Andhra
Pradesh
Chhattisgarh Gujarat Jammu
&
Kashmir
Karnataka Rajasthan Tamil
Nadu
Uttar
Pradesh
Yes 194 35 14 9 2 13 2 11 280
81.5% 100.0% 73.7% 100.0% 66.7% 86.7% 50.0% 84.6% 83.3%
No 44 5 1 2 2 2 56
18.5% 26.3% 33.3% 13.3% 50.0% 15.4% 16.7%
Total 238 35 19 9 3 15 4 13 336
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
7.17 Special characteristics of LABS aspirants: The general endeavour of
LABS course is to make the aspirants acquire skills that are required to make them
employable. The curriculum covered in the course includes pure technical inputs and also
classes to improve the personality traits like commitment, motivation etc.
Table: 7.20 Overall opinion about LABS aspirants * State Cross tabulation
State Total Opinion
Andhra
Pradesh
Chhattisgarh Gujarat Jammu
&
Kashmir
Karnataka Rajasthan Tamil
Nadu
Uttar
Pradesh
More
committed
197 32 10 9 3 15 3 10 279
82.8 91.4 52.6 100.0 100.0 100.0 75.0 76.9 83.0
More
motivated
152 33 7 7 3 15 3 10 230
63.9 94.3 36.8 77.8 100.0 100.0 75.0 76.9 68.5
Preparedness
to work
144 26 5 8 3 13 3 9 212
60.5 74.3 26.3 88.9 100.0 86.7 75.0 69.2 63.1
Having more
creative skills
127 29 7 3 3 8 3 10 190
53.4 82.9 36.8 33.3 100.0 53.3 75.0 76.9 56.5
More eager to 109 29 7 5 3 8 4 9 174
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
161
move
45.8 82.9 36.8 55.6 100.0 53.3 100.0 69.2 51.8
Less likely to
quit
70 25 4 5 3 7 1 9 126
29.4 71.4 21.1 55.6 100.0 46.7 25.0 69.2 37.5
Total 238 35 19 9 3 15 4 13 336
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
When asked what are the unique features of the aspirants of LABS vis-a vis other
recruits, the employers concluded that the LABS aspirants are more committed (83 per
cent), more motivated ( 69 per cent), prepared to work ( 63 per cent) more eager to move (
62 per cent ) and less likely to quit( 38 per cent).
While this is the scenario at the aggregate level, Karnataka (though only 3 employers) and
Rajasthan and Tami Nadu to some extent exhibit similar pattern.
7.18 Requirement of additional skills: Needless to say, LABS trains the
candidates according to the required skills set by the employer and the function of the job
activities. Keeping in view this requirement, the employers were asked to suggest what
additional skill sets are required so as to perform better in the context of the company.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
162
Graph: 7.21 : Percentage of employers according to additional skills required to the
aspirants:
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Andhra
Pra
desh
Chatt
isgarh
Guja
rat
J &
K
Karn
ata
ka
Raja
sth
an
Tam
il N
adu
Utt
ar
Pra
desh
Tota
l
Perc
en
tag
e o
f E
mp
loyers
Technical Communication Time management Adjustment to working conditions Any other (specify}
As will be seen from the above table, technical skills of the aspirants need to be sharpened
further according to 50 per cent of the employers closely followed by those (13 per cent) who
mentioned that communication skills need to be given due weight age. About one-third of
the employers also felt that the aspirants need some basic inputs on how to adjust
themselves to the work-environment in the companies .
7.19 What do the employers like about LABS: By virtue of having closer
association/interaction with the LABS aspirants/courses (in the case of many employers), the
employers were asked to identify the aspects that stand apart.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
163
Graph: 7.22: Percentage of employers according to what they like about LABS
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
No
an
sw
er
Te
ach
ing
ap
pro
ach
/ m
eth
od
s
Pe
rso
na
lity
de
ve
lop
me
nt
Co
mm
un
ica
tio
n s
kills
Eve
ryth
ing
is a
ll r
igh
t
Incu
lca
tin
g g
oo
d d
iscip
lin
e
Co
nce
pt o
f h
elp
ing
po
or
Pro
vis
ion
fo
r p
lace
me
nt
WR
M c
on
ce
pt
No
ge
nd
er
bia
s
Ga
me
s
Fri
en
dlin
ess o
f te
ach
ers
Fre
e e
du
ca
tio
n
Pe
rce
nta
ge
of
Em
plo
ye
rs
Andhra Pradesh Chattisgarh Gujarat Jammu & Kashmir Karnataka Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Uttar Pradesh Total
As will be seen from above table, teaching approach/methods, concept of helping poor and
free education are the ones which the employers liked most( in terms of their number). But
in Rajasthan ‘ provision for placements” received larger endorsement while in Tamil Nadu
half the employers were all praise about the WRM concept.
7.20 Aspects needing change: Whatever is the care taken at the time of planning
and later organizing the course to ensure that the course is a success, there would always
be some scope left for improvement to make it more successful? Towards this end,
suggestions were sought from the employers in regard to the aspects which need change in
their perception. As can be gleaned from this table that nearly half the employers could not
say any thing, while duration of the course and more focus on practical need a second look
according to 10 per cent of the employers. Some employers, though a minority, made
observations on present status of supply of equipment in the centre and the hygienic
conditions prevailing in the surroundings of the centre (venue).
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
164
Graph: 7.23: Percentage of employers according to changes required in LABS
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
No
an
sw
er
Exte
nsio
n o
f d
ura
tio
n
Fa
cilita
tors
mu
st g
en
era
te in
tere
st
Mo
re e
mp
ha
sis
on
pra
ctica
ls
Tim
ely
pro
vis
ion
of m
ore
eq
uip
me
nt
Tim
e p
lan
nin
g a
nd
allo
ca
tio
n o
f p
ractica
ls
tim
e
Intr
od
uce
min
imu
m c
om
pu
ter
skills
se
ssio
n in
all c
ou
rse
s
Se
ssio
ns o
n a
dva
nce
d c
om
pu
ter
skills
A s
ep
ara
te c
ell fo
r p
ost tr
ain
ing
fo
llo
w-u
p
Co
ve
rag
e o
f p
oo
r p
eo
ple
Ve
nu
e m
ust b
e h
yg
ien
ic w
ith
ba
sic
fa
cilitie
s
No
ch
an
ge
re
qu
ire
d
Pe
rce
nta
ge
of
Em
plo
ye
rs
Andhra Pradesh Chhattisgarh Gujarat Jammu & Kashmir Karnataka Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Uttar Pradesh Total
7.21 What more can LABS do? Lastly, with the intention of bringing about those
improvements as necessary in the view of employers, they have been asked to make
suggestions.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
165
Graph: 7.24 Percentage of employers according to what more can LABS do?
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Ta
ilori
ng
co
urs
e
Es
tab
lish
ed
ce
ntr
e w
ithe
ffic
ien
t
Ne
ed
to
co
ve
r m
ore
po
or
pe
op
le
Mo
rep
ub
licity
ab
ou
t L
AB
S
Fa
sh
ion
de
sig
n a
nd
em
bro
ide
ry
Ha
nd
icra
fts
Ad
diti
on
al
co
urs
es
Fo
od
pro
ce
ss
ing
ca
nt
sa
y/N
oa
ns
we
r
Pe
rce
nta
ge
of
Em
plo
ye
rs
A P Chattisgarh Gujarat Jammu & Kashmir Karnataka Rajasthan Tamil Nadu U.P Total
Here also, the question did not elicit any response from as many as one-third in the sample
covered. The suggestions offered by ( other ) employers mostly in the form of posting
efficient faculty/facilitators in the centres, need for expanding the geographical coverage of
the LABS courses and more importantly introduction of additional courses suiting the
market requirement.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
166
Section 8 - DRF LABS Staff
8.1 Coverage of the staff members: This section deals with LABS staff‘s views
on various aspects of the project such as human resource and project management. During
the social accounts, the staff members’ experiences were elicited in relation to processes,
project outcomes and impact. Since they are steering the project, an attempt also was made
to gather information related to their prospects in LABS and performance of aspirants. The
total number of staff members covered across states as part of the social accounts was 98
(Table 8.1). In addition, 13 senior staff members of DRF at the headquarters were also
contacted for their views.
Table 8.1: Distribution of staff members across states
State No. of staff covered Per cent
AP 50 51.0
Chhattisgarh 11 11.2
Gujarat 9 9.2
J & K 6 6.1
Karnataka 3 3.1
Rajasthan 4 4.1
Tamil Nadu 9 9.2
Uttar Pradesh 6 6.1
total 98 100.0
HQ support
Staff (Hyderabad) 13
Total 111
The staff members covered as part of the social accounts included facilitators, centre
coordinators, cluster coordinators and district coordinators of LABS (table 8.2).
Table 8.2: Designation of the LABS staff covered
Designation Number Percentage
Facilitator 65 66.3
Centre Coordinator 24 24.5
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
167
Cluster Coordinator 4 4.1
District Coordinator 4 4.1
State Coordinator 1 1.0
Total 98 100.0
8.2 Qualification and specialization of the staff: Table 8.3 shows the
qualification of the staff members. The majority (36.6 per cent) of them are post graduates
followed by the graduates (30.6 per cent). Almost 26 percent the staff members are diploma
holders in engineering (17.3 percent) and pharmacy (8.2 percent). Further, a small
proportion of staff members are with qualification of intermediate (6.1%) and ITI (1%).
There appears to be a significant relationship between the performance of the centre and
qualification and experience of the facilitators. The aspects related to the quality of the LABS
staff members have emerged as an important concern in certain states.
Table 8.3: Qualification of the Staff:
Qualification Number Percentage
Inter 6 6.1
Diploma in Engineering 17 17.3
Degree in Medicine/ Other 8 8.2
BA/B.Sc./B.Com/PG Diploma 30 30.6
Post Graduate 36 36.7
ITI 1 1.0
Total 98 100.0
8.3 The longest -serving staff members (4.1 per cent) have joined LABS in 2001. More
than half the staff members (51 per cent) have joined the LABS in 2005, followed by 26.5 per
cent in 2006. In other words, almost 78 per cent of LABS staff members are with LABS for
just past 12 to 16 months. This is understandable as LABS is on the fast growth track; and
LABS has started in many of these states only a few years back.
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
168
Table 8.4: Year of joining in LABS:
Year Number Percentage
2001 4 4.1
2002 2 2.0
2003 5 5.1
2004 11 11.2
2005 50 51.0
2006 26 26.5
Total 98 100.0
Table 8.5 shows that the staff members of LABS are drawn from different specializations
(courses). About 24 per cent of them are from information technology background. About
15 per cent of them were drawn having experience in CRS and spoken English. The
background of the staff also shows that 11.2 per cent are from automobile field and an equal
number from BSPA and WGS. Very few people are drawn from electrical and MI
.background. This seems to be matching with nature and quantum of the aspirants covered
by each course.
Table 8.5: Course Specialization
Sl.No. Course Percentage
1 ITES 23.5
2 CRS 14.3
3 Spoken/Communicative English 14.3
4 Automobiles 11.2
5 BSPA 10.2
6 WGS 10.2
7 MSW 6.1
8 Electrical 1.0
9 MI 1.0
Total 100.0
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
169
8.4 Perception on LABS: As in the case of other respondents, the perceptions
were sought on a four point scale and average scores are computed in respect of each
component.
The field staff scored high for employability and personality development. It matches with the
perception of senior team, though they scored little higher score for both the aspects. While
the field staff assigned lowest score for economic advancement, the senior team to career
advancement. Employability emerged as a major trait across the stakeholders. At the same
time there is variation across the stakeholders’ understanding.
Table 8.6: The staff perception on what does LABS stand for
Field staff Head office staff Component
Score8 Rank Score Rank
Employability 2.53 1 2.77 1
Career Advancement 2.27 3 1.92 5
Life-style advancement 2.23 4 2.23 4
Economic advancement 2.11 5 2.31 3
Personality development 2.51 2 2.69 2
8.5 Uniqueness about LABS: Table 8.7 shows the scores given by the staff on
uniqueness about LABS. Interestingly, there is a match between the field staff and senior
team in terms of priority. They gave high priority to youth friendly followed by market
friendly, context based and cross-sector partnership. But in terms of score, there is a
variation between them. This indicates gap in thinking in terms of translating idea into
practice. In fact, this is indicative even across different stakeholders. While this happens in
large scale projects, the most positive feature is unanimity on thinking on a youth friendly
programme.
Table 8.7: The staff perception on uniqueness about LABS
Field staff Head office staff Component
Score Rank Score Rank
Youth friendly 2.69 1 2.92 1
Market friendly 2.33 2 2.69 2
8 The percentage refers to the score obtained by the group in a possible range of 0 -3
Draft Social Accounts 2005-06
170
Cross-sector partnership 1.87 4 2.54 4
Context based/ localized 1.89 3 2.62 3
Table 8.8 gives scores obtained by staff in relation to target group of LABS. It is interesting
to note that field staff and Senior team differ in terms of ranking. While the field staff gave
high priority to economically needy, Senior team to school drop outs. When compared to
scores of the field staff, senior team scored more for women and differently abled. There is
also a variation in scoring related to group in special circumstances. The above discussion is
suggestive of expectations of senior team with reference to these target groups. It is also an
indicator for more formal / Informal interaction between these groups.
Table 8.8: LABS Meant for whom/Target group
Field staff Head office staff Component
Score Rank Score Rank
Economically needy 2.79 1 2.77 2
Group in special circumstances 1.28 4 1.85 5
School/college dropouts 2.63 2 2.92 1
Women 1.67 3 2.38 3
Differently abled 1.17 5 2.23 4
8.6 Personal and professional growth: It is expected that involvement of DRF
staff in LABS courses is expected to result in not only their personal growth but also the
professional growth of the staff. Keeping this in mind the staff’s reactions were sought on
these two dimensions separately in terms of ranking the possible areas that contribute to
growth: viz., job satisfaction, building personal network, knowledge enhancement and
meeting the family demand. The following is the analysis of the ranks assigned by the staff.
On aggregation of the replies across the staff, the following picture emerges:
Table 8.9: Scores on various components of personal and professional growth
Personal growth
components
Total
score*
Rank Professional growth
components
Total
score*
Rank
Job satisfaction 1.96 1 Growth opportunities 1.65 1
Knowledge
enhancement
1.98 2 Secured job 2.40 2
Building personal 2.49 3 Good salary increments 2.96 4
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network
Meet the family
demand
3.57 4 Increased status in the
society
2.85 3
*It may be noted that this score is obtained on aggregating the ranks of each staff member
on the four components and therefore the lowest value is given rank 1.
On personal growth side, as can be seen from the above table that job satisfaction ranked
first followed by knowledge enhancement. (In fact there is a tie between these two).
Building personal network is perceived to be third in importance and ‘meet the family
demand’ occupies the last place. Going by the first two ranks, it can be concluded that the
staff have more job satisfaction through their involvement in LABS activities.
Similarly on the professional growth side, the group was of the view that growth
opportunities would improve further by virtue of their involvement in the activities. ‘Securing
job’ and ‘increased status in the society’ obtained third and fourth ranks implying that they
are relatively perceived to be less important.
8.7 Attending the induction program: Nine out of every 10 staff members were
exposed to the induction programme. As regards appraisal, 34 per cent of the staff
members reported that it has taken place in 2006 while for another 15 per cent it was done
in 2005. About half the staff members reported that it was due.
8.8 Visualizing future in LABS: When asked what kind of future they visualise in
LABS, nearly 85 per cent mentioned there is a bright future for them while about 10 per
cent were sceptical in this regard ( these members said no future/limited offers) and 5
per cent chose to be non committal.
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8.9 Career Opportunities outside LABS: The reaction of a majority of the staff
members (nearly 80 per cent) was that career opportunities are aplenty while others
perceived that avenues are quite limited. Whether or not enough opportunities are available
outside, this indicates a favourable sign as it shows the degree of confidence they have
about their career prospects in the sector in general.
8.10 Elements of Work Readiness Module: In the perception of the staff
dealing with LABS courses, the major elements of the module include enabling the
candidates in facing the interviews (70 per cent) and improving their communication skills
(according to 31 per cent). Next comes in order is the component relating to ‘dress code
and mannerism’ (13 per cent). This shows that not only in the perception of the aspirants but
also of the staff that the course provides a good exposure to the candidates in facing
interviews.
8.11 Primary benefits that accrued to the aspirants from WRM: In the
perception of the staff members who are closely involved in the implementation of the LABS
course, the primary benefit that the aspirants derived is in terms of developing the
aspirants personality (54 per cent), increase in the confidence levels( 44 per cent),
developing work culture (41 per cent) etc. A few staff members mentioned that the aspirants
benefited in terms of improving the technical knowledge and in decision making.
Employee Case study: J Satish
Strength of mind and willingness to face challenges are the key aspects for success,
however, daunting a task it may be. This is case with J. Satish who joined us as a CRS facilitator in 2004, and with the
course of time, became the regional coordinator, Telangana region, Andhra Pradesh. Satish also received an award
for the best B2Y network in Sankalp2005. He was certified by C4C as a Certified Master Facilitator. Currently, Satish
is deputed as a Livelihood Specialist to Andhra Pradesh Urban Services for the Poor (APUSP) thus entrusting with the
responsibility of monitoring Livelihood Promotion Associates (L P As) in their implementation of program for 42 class-
one towns of Andhra Pradesh. Way to go! All this is possible because of Satish’s commitment to quality, teamwork
and eye of details. This also shows that hard work, dedication and drive for perfection will never go unnoticed.
In the words of Satish, “I always believe that system is more important than individual. I think, plan, listen
to my heart, and work hard accordingly”.
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8.12 Views on B2Y: According to the views expressed by the staff, the LABS concept
aims at improving the job culture/ working conditions (50 per cent), looking for right
placements (39 per cent). About one-fourth of the staff views that B2Y also enables the
aspirants to improve the training personnel network. The concept also helps the aspirants in
finding opportunities by themselves, according to 32 per cent the aspirants while undergoing
the course get in touch with many companies.
8.13 IYDP Assessments: Out of 98 staff members covered, about one-tenth
reported that not even a single assessment was accomplished in this regard. For the group
as a whole the average figure works out to 3.08 assessments in a span of 3 months period.
This is in line with the intended monthly frequency of the tool
8.14 Practical orientation: As part of this, the aspirants have to be taken on visits to
industries and companies. Some guest lectures have to be arranged from the senior
management of the companies. The analysis in this regard shows that in about one-fifth of
the cases no visits to the industries were arranged and including the same category on an
average about 5 visits were arranged. The position leaves much to be desired in regard to
cross-sector visits where only 42 per cent of the cases claim that no such visits were
arranged. Going by the information given by the staff dealing with the centres, guest
lectures were not arranged in as many as 16 per cent of the cases. However, for the group
as a whole, the average comes to 5 visits in a period of 3 months.
8.15 Opinion on involvement and overall achievement of aspirants:
Having been associated with the course and also closely watching the performance of the
aspirants (in most of the cases), the staff members were asked to mention their experiences.
In response to this, the trait ‘eager to learn’ has received the highest response (76 per cent),
followed by ‘co-operative’ (about 70 per cent). The item ‘inquisitive’ was endorsed by 21 per
cent only.
According to the staff, each aspirant got about 3 job offers on an average (this average
refers to the number mentioned by the staff) and about 48 per cent could clear the interview
in the first attempt itself. As per their (staff members’) information, about 50 per cent of the
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aspirants of 2005-06 batches could secure jobs. In the overall assessment of 88 per cent of
the staff members, they were satisfied with the performance of the aspirants:
8.16 Curriculum improvement: Being involved in the LABS course
implementation in different capacities, the views of the staff in regard to this aspect would be
quite crucial. According to about one-third of the staff interviewed, the suggestions from
them underscore the need for reflecting on the requirements of the employers in developing
the curriculum for which periodical interface with employer is required to brighten the
chances of employability of the aspirants. More practical trainings and more emphasis on
communication skills are among the other suggestions given by a few staff members.
8.17 What you like about LABS: Among many responses on this aspect,
‘employability’ emerges with the highest percentage (53 per cent), followed by teaching
methods (15 per cent) etc. While this is the perception of the field staff, the staff at the
headquarters mentioned that the most worthy aspect of LABS is its ability to unearth the
inherent and hidden talents of the candidates and give them skills to get the ‘entry level ‘
employment. According to some, through the introduction of WRM, the candidates are
thoroughly prepared in facing the interviews.
8.18 Changes required: The important item in terms of its being mentioned by a
larger number (27 per cent) is the need to increase the duration of the course. Similar
observation is made by other stakeholders also including the aspirants and therefore DRF
must bestow its attention on this aspect. Gap is also seen in respect of practical sessions
according to about 23 per cent. Some staff members also referred to the transfer policy and
the pay structure being adopted by LABS. In their view, these two aspects need a review.
In the view of the staff at the Headquarters, the courses must also target the rural areas
and tailor-made programmes need to be prepared keeping in view their background; abilities
etc. While some officials mentioned that the venue should not be disturbed, capacity
building programmes for the facilitators and others in the hierarchy need to be planned.
8.19 What more can LABS do? Interestingly, 25 per cent are of the view that
courses having local relevance only need to be organized and also the market scan
undertaken must appropriately reflect this. As of now, according to these staff members,
not much choice is available in selecting the courses to the candidates (assuming that a
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175
realistic market scan would identify more courses).Other suggestions are in relation to the
need for bringing more poor under the ambit of the courses and revision of the curriculum.
The suggestions made by the staff at the headquarters also reinforce those mentioned by
the field staff. A specific mention was made by this group that differently able should also
be brought in to sharper focus. As unemployment is prevalent even among those with higher
educational qualification, suitable programmes aiming at personality development and life
skills need to be thought of.
From the above analysis it is clear that the staff visualized growth both on the personal and
professional fronts. While in the case of the former, besides job satisfaction, they could
enhance their knowledge base in the sector they are working at present. As regards the
latter category, growth opportunities are aplenty in the sector besides job security. God
salary and increments are the added advantages as perceived by the staff in general.
Further, a majority of the staff are confident that the career opportunities in this sector are
available outside LABS also.
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9. OTHER VIEWS OF STAKEHOLDERS: PARTNERS
As part of preparation of database for social accounts for the year 2005-06 of DRF, five
partners, the details of which are provided in the following tables, were also contacted for
capturing their reactions on various activities pertaining to LABS courses. Analysis of
other replies is presented below:
Profile of the partners
� First Source solutions Ltd is a BPO working for amelioration of the conditions of the
poor. It started collaboration with LABS on 5th Aug, and sponsored 1400 candidates
and also is supporting one centre.
� Commissionerate & Directorate Municipal Administration (CDMA) and Andhra
Pradesh Urban Services for the Poor (APUSP) are Government Departments.
� Mineral foundation of Goa is an NGO engaged in social and environmental
development of mining areas in Goa. It came into collaboration with LABS on 5th
Aug, and sponsored 240 aspirants and also is supporting two centres.
� Employment Generation Marketing Mission (EGMM) is situated in Andhra
Pradesh focusing up on identifying and training the underprivileged youth for
employment and employability.
Reactions:
All the five partners perceive that LABS stands for employability. However in the case of
other components there is no uniformity in their perception. Only three out of five partners
indicated that LABS works towards career and lifestyle advancement also. Further, in
regard to economic advancement and personality development, there exists a larger degree
of (favourable) agreement among the partners
Even in regard to uniqueness of LABS programmes the perceptions of the partners more or
less tally. While there is a positive perception on the component ‘market friendly’, on other
components there is slight variation. Further the LABS’ courses are perceived to be context
based/ localized.
Out of the five target groups under consideration, excepting for small variations, all the five
partners indicated that the LABS courses basically aim at economically needy and
school/college drop-outs. The analysis further shows that excepting for EGMM, the other
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four partners perceive that groups in special circumstances and women also get priority
but not as much as the two groups referred to above.
As per the information provided, while two partners mentioned that market scan was
conducted for identification for potential activities, the other three partners are not very
sure. While giving reasons for non-inclusion, one organization was of the view that
courses are organized under LABS only in three or four trades, independent of the results
of market scan
The role of the partners is primarily in terms of participating in various activities ranging from
market scan to placements. Across the five NGOs, APUSP and EGMM stand apart in that
they participated in all the activities enumerated in the checklist. Mineral Foundation
occupies the second position in terms of the number of activities in which it participated.
Interestingly, though CDMA and First source Solutions did not report to have participated in
all the activities, they did not miss the core activity which is showing placements for the
aspirants.
In so far as market scan is concerned, three partners of the view that the market scan
conducted under LABS was comprehensive in terms of it adequately capturing the local
employment potential. However, in the case one partner, it could do up to 60-70 per cent
only while one partner did not react to this question
No partner is reported to have played any role in the selection of trainers. However, three
partners expressed satisfaction over the skill and proficiency levels of the trainers while one
partner was a little sceptical about it. One partner goes to the extent of saying that when the
programme assumes larger dimensions there will be a dip in the quality while the other
mentions that some centres are sans trainers. However, the partners give some
suggestions about the way to monitor the trainers’ performance and this is in terms of
looking at the quality of the pass-outs
As regards the views on aspirants, the partners, with an exception of one, mentioned that
there is a perceptible change in the confidence level of the aspirants and also their
attitudinal levels and soft skills. The partners have also perceived that the courses the
candidates have undergone could sufficiently equip them on basic skills. However, no
specific suggestion came forth from the partners as regards monitoring the performance of
the aspirants. It is to be noted that APSUP is through out non-committal on the question
on views
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The responses to the question ‘what you like about LABS ‘vary across the partners. and for
‘what needs to be changed’ are covered in the given table ( Table 9.2 )
The partners also gave various suggestions for effective functioning which include the
following: i) enlarging the scope ii) up-gradation of skills iii) conducting the employability
survey, iv) monitoring the wages and trying to increase remuneration v) establishing
association of alumni and vi) pioneering new models and showing more leadership and
creativity
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Table 9.1: Did you involve yourself in the following activities? (Provision for multiple
reasons
Partners
Market
scan
Aspirant’s
Selection
Road
shows
Monitoring
LABS
B2Y
network
Guest
lectures
IYDP
assessment
WRM/
visit industries
Placements
First source
solutions
Yes Yes
CDMA Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
APUSP Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mineral
foundation
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Yes
EGMM
Districts participate in all this. The state unit monitors/reviews quality/builds and develops the partnership. Some corporate linkages
have also been given to the batches.
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Table 9.2: Partners views on LABS, its prospects and development.
Partners What do you like about
LABS? What is that you would like to change about LABS?
What more LABS
should do?
Any other item which is not
covered otherwise and
which you want to mention
First source
solutions
Very professional,
responsive and open to
feedback & Course
correction
I wish at the end of a 3 month training, they could: -
make the pass outs "more" proficient in English -make
the pass outs think big, and come out of the "oh! that is
not meant for me attitude" -do more
rigorous research on past pass outs to gauge” real"
impact -
collaborate "more” with small local players to share the
large wealth of knowledge you have
CDMA
Methodology
(Sequence e cycle is
taken care - finally
placement)
Enlarge the Scope,
upgradation of skills,
may be employability
will market survey
needs to be featured.
APUSP
Market Scan before
importing training Expand the number of activities
Should monitor the
wages and try to
facilitate to enhance
remuneration
wherever the wages
Mineral
foundation
Well structured, concise
and to the point
syllabus, delivery
Infuse more technical courses related to other disciplines
and emerging areas
Establish Alumni
Association for trans
state networking
To be involved at the time of
market scan and if possible
some adaptation time to be
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method
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