LIKE IN many others states, the rural areas of Maharashtra will see large-scale job opportunities in the next five years or so, considering the huge foreign investments being made and the network of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) that is spreading across the State.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has recently announced the setting up of 1600 new technical and Industrial Training Institutes (ITI's) to ensure the availability of sufficient skilled manpower for the industries being set up in several states of the country Maharashtra and . Andhra Pradesh will lead the competition to attract FDI and generate mass employment.

If the rulers of Maharashtra will have to start working from now to tackle the competition. The government needs to pursue the matter with the Centre and get the maximum number of technical training centres and ITI's for Maharashtra, especially in the rural areas. There is also an urgent need to replace the outdated equipment in the existing ITI's and introduce joboriented courses considering the new type of industries that will be set up. Coordination amongst various government departments can structure such integrated technical courses. The object should be to meet the need of future industries with local manpower. This will not happen unless youth are trained.

With the recent approvals by the Centre, over 600 SEZ projects will be coming up across the country. Of these, 119 will be in Maharashtra, opening up tremendous job opportunities in the next five to six years. For instance, the Mumbai SEZ project of the Reliance group in 10,000 hectares of land spread over Pen, Uran and Panvel tehsils of Raigad district is projected to create around 20 lakh jobs in a decade. Besides, opportunities for women will also come up in service sectors fol- lowing industrial development in the region. According to a recent affidavit by the state government, the num- ber of those unemployed in Maharashtra stands at 48 lakh while job generation by the government is only in thou- sands. Therefore, industriali- sation is the only way forward.

It is obvious that farming is becoming increasingly non remunerative. The poor farmer is burdened by loans, forcing many of them to end their lives. The once fertile Vidarbha region has been the worst hit. Though there is no readymade solution to the complex problem, industrialisation can greatly help alleviate poverty Farmers must . take up non-farming activities to supple ment their income.

A human resource development experiment that has proved successful in Maan tehsil in Satara district may serve as a possible solution. Maan is a drought-prone area where farming is a losing proposition. Neither is there any employment potential. The women who run the fam ily wait for money orders from their husbands working in Mumbai. Tired of perpetual poverty, some women accepted the challenge to bring about change. One of them, Chetna Gala-Sinha, started a rural business school in the belief that a vocationally trained woman could change the family's destiny. The venture was successful beyond expectations of Chetna and her colleagues. Today, training for 19 vocational courses is imparted in the school. This includes computer literacy, communicating in English and personality development skills. The till recently poverty stricken women now are on their feet, running small business ventures.

Unfortunately, such experiences are not replicated. On the other hand, many areas in Maharashtra have traditionally opposed new ventures. The political party leading such opposition attracts attention for a while but the people have to pay the final price in the form of unemployment, privations of farmers and tragic deaths. Maharashtra in particular and the backward states in general need to learn a lesson from the recent developments in Mumbai. One should ponder over the quandary of proprietors of small and medium enterprises around Mumbai. While hundreds of north Indians have fled, there is no trained workforce to fill in the vacancies. Hence, there is an urgent need to see appreciate how projects coming up in the state can help the local people. Industrial development needs to welcomed rather than being opposed.

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