A FEASIBLE AND INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO REFORM, RESTRUCTURE JOBS & ALTER ECONOMY AFTER COVID-19 LOCK DOWN BY MITIGATING THE RISKS AND CHALLENGES
Problem Statement and Background: As soon as LOCK-DOWN 2 was announced by the Prime Minister, restless work force of migrant workers started to panic. It served an alarm that it’s beyond our tolerance limits to stay safe and cool at the same time by confining ourselves within four walls. Though PMO seems to be practical with relaxation norms for essential service sector and other sectors of importance with subject to the projected increase in positive cases and spread of COVID-19 across India.
Intellectuals, CEO’s of larger corporate organizations, economists, businessmen and experts have started discussing and debating on post world scenario after COVID-19 lock down on national economy with after effects on demand and supply cycle. As most of the economists project GDP growth for 2020-2021 between 1.8-2.7% for India, if this is assumed to be true then the lower and middle strata of society will be greatly affected. However, so called experts have potentially failed to visualize the “structural reforms” with available resources in both government and private sectors for the purpose of improving productivity and utilization of workforce with prime focus on new-job creations with improved services to wider community who are the backbone for 5 trillion economy. Authors have put honest efforts to visualize the same and explained in brief how to protect and save common man’s “bread & butter” without significant losses to SME and MSME sectors. The approach discussed in this article covers the logical feasibility and approach to a faster economic recovery and bringing the economy back in track without hampering the interests of all strata and sectors of the pyramid economy.
Present Scenario
GOVERNMENT SECTORS Including all central, state, PSU’s, banks, insurance, education, national research laboratories, railways and public transport. Under any catastrophic or epidemic event, public servants, bureaucrats, police personnel are empowered and mostly result in imbalance of power to serve “common people”. There is another class of NGOs who also collects funds in the name of the poor to provide relief and preliminary measures to bring back their routine life on track. This situation normally affects the state and nation beyond any boundaries of caste, creed, class and economics. As a result collateral damage is in the form of loss of lives, livelihood and jobs for time being. This is a result of utilization of public services and their manpower utilization.
PRIVATE SECTORS including manufacturing, organised, unorganized hospitality, retail, aviation, daily needs, essential services, supply chain, blue collar and daily wage workers. Most of the unorganized private sectors core are migrant and daily wage workers whose livelihood and earnings depends the productive days in a month, without any substantial savings and with hardships to sustain and survive and to meet their ends results in frustration and agitation. With a circular economy at halt and near to zero demand and supply, results are quite evident on people and economy. Nothing is above human life and the objective of lock down due to COVID-19 is to safeguard citizen of nation which supersedes the economy.
Major Issues Which Arise Out Of Catastrophic And Epidemic Events :
- Delayed Normalisation: It takes substantial amount of time to normalise with backlog and same workforce, which results in a nightmare for common man to get the benefits and get things done on time [such as government scheme benefits, legal matters, documentation etc]
- Demand and Supply uncertainty: Fear of stock outs and non-availability of essential items due to cash flow, non availability of labour, lack of enough raw material and resources. It also impacts the household budget and creates a sense of fear among lower and middle class strata due to constrained budgets and cash flow. It also impacts the academics and education.
- Government budget gets totally haywire due to a jolt in economy and impaired export and deficit as priority is on severance and subsidies under various schemes to compensate the loss of livelihood. As priority changes, will disturb GDP performance and as a result the capital market sinks to the lowest level with longer recovery time.
- All possibilities exist about administrative irregularities in allocation and utilization of supportive resources made available under disaster management actions.
MAJOR CRITICAL REASON ANALYSIS ON ABOVE REFERRED ISSUES FOR POOR PRODUCTIVITY
- There is no provision of stand by govt service platform availability under normal working days. During disaster periods such platforms are more or less out of function, so pending workload increases and govt fails to satisfy the common man’s.
- Normal working hours of govt employees or private sectors as per norms is 8 hrs per day, inclusive of lunch and tea breaks ( 45 min to 1 hr/8 hrs work ). It is extremely low to meet the expectation during any crisis.
- Productivity variation in efficacy of govt offices, due to prolong break period than prescribed, along with late opening and early closing windows directly offers great dissatisfaction to the common man. It is also a fact that about 75-80% class III/IV employees are engaged in additional activity to generate additional income [share market, Insurance/postal services agencies, etc]
- Efficiency variation during recession break period are varied however industry have to managed efficiency till end of the shift. As per factory act norms, minimum labour efficiency acceptable is 80%, means productivity will greatly vary.
- It is observed, both in government & private sectors, officers cadre work more hours than class III/IV level cadre.
INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS TO ABOVE ISSUES AND TO IMPROVE BETTER PRODUCTIVITY:
20 to 25% time loss per shift per employee, just in lunch & tea breaks is the mindset to enjoy more time than permitted, particularly in government sectors and in private sectors permissible and acceptable minimum efficiency level [such norms missing in govt] directly impacts on productivity per unit cost of a product / service offered. Deep thoughts are given to eliminate non-productive contributing factors, how unnecessary and indirect breaks can be eliminated through restructuring system norms, keeping in mind following objectives
- To offer job profiles, which have minimum potential to sustain a family of 4 [2+2] with salary/wages.
- To create additional jobs, to offer more hours working government service platforms for common man.
- To promote self employment culture by the way of limited fixed income under flexible hours job opportunities.
FOLLOWING REFORMS ARE SUGGESTED TO IMPLEMENT
- Restructuring the present system of time schedules from 8 hrs working to 6 hrs working without affecting present way of working in terms of methods & PERFORMANCE measurements.
- Only one tea break in 6-hrs working schedules.
- Government platforms in service sectors and involved in public dealing to be run in TWO shift working like schedules of secondary schooling. for e.g. Ist 7am to 1pm & IInd 1.30pm to 7.30 pm.
- Officer cadre to work 10-12 hours as usual and to monitor both shift.
- Salary/wages to be reduced as per revised framework of working i.e 20-25% in Basic Pay.
- For running two government funded shifts, all service platforms will create new jobs equivalent in the numbers of available employment in the sectors. [12-15 crores employment class III/IV].
- 50% post as per earlier point, recruitment to be done on central platform with financial burden and till the period of establishment. Later on burden can be transferred to respective state authority.
- 50% post to be filled up under the scheme of learning with earning for the students of higher education as an “Internship with stipend” by the respective state authority with financial support by central government for initial couple of years.
- For industries shift timings 4 shifts per 24 hrs running industries should be allowed. MSME assumed to be running two shifts between 7am to 30pm.
- Wages/salary to be re fixed as new schedule timings as per their policy matter. Government may extend financial support to sustain new recruitees in similar way as referred above and as per organization policy. 50% vacancy to be filled up as per government apprentice act [financial support by central govt]
- With 60% industrial sickness rate on registered 6.5 crores registered MSME having average employment labour force 15 /MSME can create and offer 10 Crores+ of additional jobs.
- Amendments to Factory Act 1947 and Service rules applicable to govt employees to be made by the concern.
Hence 20-25?ditions in jobs will create at least 20 CRORES JOBS [Present strength of government job is @ 10-12% of population & MSME jobs are 25-30% of population] in government and private sector.
COVID-19 epidemic has put global economy and every individual is suffering, so it is the perfect opportunity to reform existing old system of working and accountability.
CONCLUSIONS
- INNOVATIVE REFORM AS SUGGESTED CAN IMPROVE PERFORMANCE EFFICIENCY OF GOVERNMENT OFFICES AND CAN OFFER MORE HOURS PER DAY SERVICES TO COMMON MAN.
- YOUNG MINDS WILL GET OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE NATION IN DIFFERENT WAYS AND MEANS. IT WILL EDUCATE PRIVATE SECTORS ON MANPOWER UTILIZATION.
- UNDER ELIMINATION OF NON-PRODUCTIVE TIMINGS INDUSTRY COSTING WILL REDUCE AND BETTER PRODUCTS CAN BE ACHIEVED.
- EMPLOYEES [III/IV CLASS]DOING SIDE BUSINESS WILL GET NOW MORE TIME TO INCREASE THE BUSINESS SO MAY CREATE NEW EMPLOYMENTS AND UNDER FREEDOM OF WILLINGNESS TO CHOICES OF WORK CONTENT WILL LEAD TO REDUCTION IN EVENTS OF MIS-ADMINISTRATION.
- HAWKERS/LARIWALA BUSINESS DEPENDENTS ON SUCH GOVT SERVICING PLATFORMS, NOW WILL GET MORE BUSINESS DUE TO INCREASED TIMINGS OF GOVERNMENT.
- THERE IS NO NEED TO WASTE OFFICIAL LEAVE FOR OWN NEED OF GOVT SERVICE PLATFORMS FOR ANY EMPLOYEES EITHER GOVT OR PRIVATE SECTORS DUE TO TWO SHIFT RUNNING GOVT SERVICE PLATFORMS.MINIMUM 3-4 LEAVE WASTAGE REDUCED PER EMPLOYEE, HOW MANY HRS MORE WORKING MADE AVAILABLE ON TOTAL SCALE OF EMPLOYEES IN NOS. AN IMPORTANT BOOST TOWARDS ACHIEVING 5-TRILLION ECONOMY.
Inputs from the following experts Dhiren Shah / Dr Dhananjay Bhatt / Arvind Jain and contact email are in respective order sunsmidhi@gmail.com / drdvbhatt@gmail.com / arvindjani69@yahoo.com
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