This article is an analytical reflection based on a personal account of working with one of India’s new-generation vocational training and placement agencies implementing the government’s skills policy after its revamping in 2009. As the author struggles to search for decent jobs on behalf of trained candidates, she provides insights into the state of blue-collar jobs and the troubled relationships between company ‘human resources’ (HR) and industrial relations (IR) managers and their workforce. While the public programmes and policies referred to here are ostensibly about skill, the article reveals them to have quite a different purpose for industry: they offer ways by which employers can not only secure the flow of casual workers but also tie them in, thereby stabilizing their workforce in an era where the ‘permanent worker’ is no longer an acceptable or viable category. Presenting a backdrop of moral ambiguity and dilemma, the article highlights the disconnect between the declared intent of government ‘skills’ policy and the way in which it is actually realized, from the viewpoint of employer, student and vocational training provider.

中文翻译：

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从人口中获取红利：当代印度工业的技能政策和劳动力管理

本文是基于与印度新一代职业培训和安置机构之一合作的分析反思，该机构在 2009 年改革后实施政府的技能政策。当作者为受过培训的候选人努力寻找体面的工作时，她提供了对蓝领工作状态以及公司“人力资源”(HR) 和劳资关系 (IR) 经理及其员工之间的麻烦关系的见解。虽然这里提到的公共计划和政策表面上是关于技能的，但这篇文章揭示了它们对工业的完全不同的目的：它们提供了雇主不仅可以确保临时工流动而且可以将他们联系在一起的方法，从而在“永久工人”不再是可接受或可行的类别的时代稳定他们的劳动力。文章在道德模糊和困境的背景下，从雇主、学生和职业培训提供者的角度，强调了政府“技能”政策所宣称的意图与其实际实现方式之间的脱节。