Rahul Gandhi invokes Eklavya, says people with skills sidelined in India

Washington: Millions of people with skills are being sidelined in India, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said in Dallas, Texas, and referred to Eklavya from Mahabharata, who had to chop off his thumb on his guru's demand.

During an interaction with students at the University of Texas in Dallas on Sunday, Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said that India does not lack skills, it lacks respect for skills.

"Have you heard of the Eklavya story? If you want to understand what is happening in India, it is millions and millions of Eklavya stories every single day. People with skills are being sidelined—they are not being allowed to operate or thrive, and this is happening everywhere," the official X account of the Congress quoted Gandhi as saying.

In the Mahabharata, Dronacharya, an expert in military warfare, asks Ekalavya, who is from a tribal community, for the impossible sacrifice of his right thumb as ‘guru dakshina’ when he seeks to learn archery from him.

"Many people say that India has a problem with skills. I don't think India has a problem with skills. I think... India does not have respect for people who possess skills," Gandhi said.

In his address, Gandhi asserted that India's potential can be unleashed by respecting skills and supporting people with skills financially and technologically. "You won’t unleash India's power by empowering just 1-2 per cent of the population," he said.

Gandhi is on a four-day unofficial trip to the US, during which he will interact with the members of the Indian diaspora and youths with stops in Dallas, Texas and Washington DC. He also plans to meet lawmakers and senior officials of the US government during his visit to Washington DC, beginning Monday.

Asserting that India, the US and other countries in the West are facing the problem of unemployment while China is not, as it is dominating global production, Gandhi underscored the need to focus on manufacturing in India.

He said the West, America, Europe and India have "given up on the idea of production" and handed it to China.

"The act of production creates jobs. What we do, what the Americans do, what the West does, is we organise consumption... India has to think about the act of production and organising production..."

"It's not acceptable that India simply says, okay, manufacturing, what you call manufacturing or production, is going to be the preserve of the Chinese. It's going to be the preserve of the Vietnamese. It's going to be the preserve of Bangladesh," Gandhi said.

"The only way to provide jobs for a large number of people is to start producing things, to start manufacturing," he said.

"Until we do that, we will face high levels of unemployment. And frankly, it's not sustainable." "... If we carry on down this path of forgetting about manufacturing, you're going to see massive social problems coming in India and in the United States and Europe. The polarisation of our politics is because of this..." he added.

He also stressed the need to encourage vocational training to bridge the gap between the business and education systems and flagged the "ideological capture" of the latter.

In his address, Gandhi also spoke about new tech taking people's existing jobs. "If you position yourself properly, it can be an opportunity; if you position yourself poorly, you could be in trouble," he said.

"What happens is that while technology does take jobs away from some people, it also creates opportunities for others." "I don't believe that jobs will vanish entirely, but rather that different types of jobs will be created and different sectors will benefit," he said.

Gandhi arrived in Dallas on Saturday night and was welcomed by dozens of members of the Indian-American community led by senior Congress leader Sam Pitroda and president of Indian National Overseas Congress, USA, Mohinder Gilzian.

In his address, Gandhi said there is a need to link the education system with the business system through vocational training.

"Bridging that gap or linking these two systems, skills and education, through vocational training is fundamental. I think, currently the huge problem with the education system is the ideological capture, where ideology is being fed through it...," he said.

Gandhi said he is convinced that India can take on China if it starts aligning itself for production and starts respecting skills.

"I'm absolutely convinced of it. States like Tamil Nadu have already shown it. It's not that Indian states have not done it. Pune has shown it. Maharashtra has shown it. So, it is being done, but it's not being done at the scale and with the coordination that it needs to be done," Gandhi said.