Written in the backdrop of the emerging official discourse around occupational skill training in contemporary India, this article returns to the past to explain how the meanings of skill and skill training were produced through the interaction of the colonial education system and industrial actors in modern India. Using archival records, it studies the history of the Lucknow Industrial School—one of the earliest government institutes to skill Indians in various industrial trades and for the local railway workshop. The article argues that industrial training institutions, while crucial in defining and legitimizing a discourse of skill and efficiency based on the scientific and technical knowledge of workers, were subjected to the competing political and training discourses of the shop floor, financial unwillingness of the British empire to create a large infrastructure of industrial and technical education for the colony, local caste politics and aspirations of students. All these forces shaped the nature of skill transference and produced unintended results which strained the relationship between the training institute and industries. Similar conflicts and issues surround the contemporary skill programme. A historical study of skill development during the colonial era allows a better understanding of the prospect and perils of the present-day Skill India Mission.

中文翻译：

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技能及其历史：印度殖民地的劳动力市场、技术知识和技术工人的培养（1880-1910）

本文以当代印度有关职业技能培训的官方话语新兴为背景，回到过去解释技能和技能培训的含义是如何通过现代印度的殖民教育体系和工业行为者的互动产生的。它使用档案记录研究勒克瑙工业学校的历史——这是最早为印度人提供各种工业贸易和当地铁路车间技能的政府机构之一。文章认为，工业培训机构虽然在定义和合法化基于工人科学和技术知识的技能和效率话语方面至关重要，但也受到车间政治和培训话语的竞争，大英帝国在财政上不愿意为殖民地、当地种姓政治和学生的愿望创建大型工业和技术教育基础设施。所有这些力量塑造了技能转移的性质，并产生了意想不到的结果，使培训机构与行业之间的关系变得紧张。类似的冲突和问题围绕着当代技能计划。对殖民时代技能发展的历史研究可以更好地了解当今印度技能使命的前景和危险。所有这些力量塑造了技能转移的性质，并产生了意想不到的结果，使培训机构与行业之间的关系变得紧张。类似的冲突和问题围绕着当代技能计划。对殖民时代技能发展的历史研究可以更好地了解当今印度技能使命的前景和危险。所有这些力量塑造了技能转移的性质，并产生了意想不到的结果，使培训机构与行业之间的关系变得紧张。类似的冲突和问题围绕着当代技能计划。对殖民时代技能发展的历史研究可以更好地了解当今印度技能使命的前景和危险。