Revision summary
Make in India (2014) wants design and manufacture in India, not only a slogan. Skill India and PMKVY-ITI supply the welders and technicians those plants need. Four labour Codes try to replace a maze of statutes with clearer hire, safety, and social-security rules. The statement is largely true: without skills and workable labour law, firms stay small or leave. Infra, PLI, land, and demand remain equally binding; skills plus Codes are necessary, not sufficient.
Model answer
Introduction
Make in India (2014) asked firms to design, make, and assemble in India. Skill India (2015) asked the workforce to match those machines. Labour-law consolidation into four Codes tried to make hiring and compliance less of a maze. The statement is largely true, but it is not the whole factory: power, ports, PLI, and land still decide whether a skilled worker has a plant to walk into.
Body
Why Skill India is a necessary condition
- A factory that cannot find welders, CNC operators, tool-room hands, and line supervisors will import people or stay a warehouse with a Make in India board.
- PMKVY, ITIs, apprenticeships, and the National Skills Qualification Framework try to certify those hands; without them Make in India is a land-and-tax brochure.
- Quality, not only headcount, matters: a short certificate that a shop floor will not hire is not Skill India success.
- Global value chains move to Vietnam or Mexico when Indian skilling is thin even if the slogan is loud.
Why labour reforms also matter
- Pre-Code labour law was many statutes, inspections, and a hire-and-fire fear that pushed firms to stay small and informal — the opposite of scale manufacturing.
- The four Codes (Wages; Industrial Relations; Social Security; Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions) are the “radical” reform the question names: simpler compliance, a clearer strike-and-retrenchment map, and a wider social-security tent.
- Predictable hours, contract, and exit rules attract patient capital; chaotic inspector-raj and sudden bandhs do not.
- Radical must still mean rights: safety, minimum wage, and a real union voice. Flexibility without a floor is not a reform investors can defend.
Why the statement is not complete
- Make in India also needs cheap reliable power, logistics (Sagarmala, Bharatmala, freight corridors), and Production Linked Incentive where India lacks a cluster.
- Land, contract enforcement, and a stable tax GST spine are as binding as a skill certificate.
- Demand and export markets must exist; a skilled unemployed youth is not manufacturing.
- Logic: Skill India and labour Codes are necessary rails. They are not sufficient rails. Agree with the statement as a core dependence, not as a monopoly explanation.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD S[Skill India PMKVY ITI] --> M[Make in India] L[Four labour codes] --> M I[Power logistics PLI land] --> M M --> F[Scale factory jobs] X[Thin skill or maze law] --> W[Warehouse not factory]
Conclusion
Yes, Make in India’s success depends heavily on Skill India’s success and on labour reforms that make scale hiring lawful and predictable. PMKVY-ITI quality and the four labour Codes are that pair. The argument is incomplete without infrastructure, PLI, land, and markets: a skilled Code-compliant worker still needs a plant, a port, and an order book.
Quick related
Students also ask
-
Examine the impacts of new schemes introduced in the 2021–22 budget of the Uttar Pradesh State Government on the socio-economic system of the State.
Next question in the 2021 paper (Q14). View answer →
-
If labour is made fully flexible, will Make in India succeed?
Flexibility without skills, power, and ports still fails. Race-to-the-bottom wages also do not build a quality brand.
-
Has Skill India already completed the job?
No. Placement quality and employer trust remain the test, not only certificates issued.
PYQ trend
When UPSC asked this
Related PYQs from other years, newest first. Open a question to read it.
-
2022 · Q5 · UPGS3 · 8 marks
Evaluate the present industrial policy of the Government of India with special reference to ‘Make in India’ and ‘Stand up India’. -
2020 · Q15 · UPGS3 · 12 marks
What are the objectives of National Manufacturing Policy? Critically examine the 'Make in India' and 'Start-up India' initiatives.
More from this paper
Q1 · UPSC Mains 2021 · UPGS3 · 8 marks
Discuss the Digital India Programme of India.
Economic planning and NITI Aayog
Digital India (2015, MeitY) is the Union digital-governance and infrastructure programme. Nine pillars cover broadband, mobile, CSCs, e-Kranti, manufacturing, and jobs. BharatNet, CSC 2.0, and PMGDISHA are the last-mile connectivity and literacy rails. DigiLocker, UMANG, Aadhaar, UPI, and DBT carry documents, services, and payments. Hardware PLI and GSTN sit on the same stack; power and literacy still cap use.
Q2 · UPSC Mains 2021 · UPGS3 · 8 marks
Examine the impact of globalization on employment of formal sector of India.
Economic planning and NITI Aayog
Post-1991 opening grew formal jobs in IT, ITeS, retail, banks, and some auto and SEZ plants. SEZ Act 2005 and Make in India named the park-and-investment rails. Contract labour and fixed-term hiring informalised much factory work even when the unit was registered. EPFO, ESIC, labour codes, and Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana are the social-security response. Net: more white-collar formality, weaker shop-floor security.
Q3 · UPSC Mains 2021 · UPGS3 · 8 marks
How does the strategy of inclusive growth intend to meet the objectives of inclusiveness and sustainability together? Explain.
Poverty, unemployment and inclusive growth
Inclusive growth shares output with the poor and lagging regions without exhausting nature. PMJDY, DBT, MGNREGA, DAY-NRLM, PMAY, and PM-KISAN are the equity rails. Ujjwala, Jal Jeevan Mission, Swachh Bharat, National Solar Mission, PM-KUSUM, and CAMPA are the green rails. NITI SDG India Index and Aspirational Districts score both together. The strategy works only if the same household gets income and a cleaner livelihood.
Toppers' copies
Toppers' copies for this question will be uploaded soon.