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TECHNICIANS

That the training and skill of technicians, especially on the shopfloor, is of paramount importance cannot be emphasised enough.

Shopfloor technicians are far more than just ‘workers’. While German factory personnel can be viewed as being overpaid (making German products increasingly uncompetitive) there can also be no doubt that German products are world-beating in terms of precision, robustness and craftsmanship.

One reason German trade unions, IG Metall for example, are successful is due to their system of apprentice schools. Indian trade unions, on the other hand, are tied up with politics and have not paid much attention towards establishing similar centres of excellence.

Indian technicians should aspire to and be given the chance to learn the high standards we see in Germany and other central European countries (Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic). There are a few technical schools in Calcutta, but on a national level such a system does not yet exist. In the 21^st century, it is time to start setting such a system up.

A chartered technician examination system can be set up following, for example, the models laid down by the UK’s Engineering Council and using training materials similar to those sold by The Welding Institute (TWI). If officials from IG Metall were also consulted, their advice could also be taken into account.

Finally, Indian ‘workers’ should dispense with their political unions (eg. CENTU, CITU and INTUC) and organise themselves into more apolitical groups so as to concentrate better on enhancing their skills for the benefit of the economy as a whole.

Just as in Germany and Sweden, there should also be representatives of the technician body in the boardroom too. If given the position in Indian society that they deserve, they are more likely to help take their industries forward rather than hold them back.