NET, IAS, State-SET (KSET, WBSET, MPSET, etc.), GATE, CUET, Olympiads etc. Essay: Human Resource Development

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In the age of fast growing population and over mechanization, we find that more and more people are getting converted to a liability than a resource. Machines are rendering people unemployed, traditional craftsmen and artisans are being obliterated, and in this fast pace of life, we are losing taste for simple pleasure and joys. Creative talents are getting scant attention causing them to remain stagnant. In this age of machines, are we becoming too uniform, too similar lacking variety and vitality?

Man is known by the company he keeps and a country is known by the people it has. One can accept this fact without iota of doubt that people are any nation ′ s greatest resource. It is the resourcefulness, creativity, courage and ′ initiative by which man is characterized. Is our development indeed helping us encourage these traits in man or are we all becoming a part of a big machine without individuality. In pursuit for money and power, are we becoming blind to our creative self our spirit.

There can be no doubt that development of technology and industrialization has widened horizons of man՚s knowledge. They have helped him become more skilled and in a way even more creative. They have helped to generate wealth, with more employment. But the benefits haven՚t reached all. So we find that while traditional skills are being wiped out, no new avenues are being opened. The result is that man is becoming unproductive, a burden or a liability. It is not our development that is making all of us follow same worn path with little scope of becoming different, but it is the way we are carrying it. Development and mechanization may have eaten up jobs but at the same time has created multitude of opportunities that only need to be seen to be exploited. Numerous avenues are being opened where man can use his creativity, he only needs to be trained and guided. But when everybody wants to follow same old path of becoming another doctor or an engineer, when no one wants to be different.

That heaven would descend on earth if youth knew, if age could. In the age of rapid development, urbanization and industrialization, when tension is increasing in the society and relations are getting fractured, need both the revolutionary zeal of the youth and the moderating influence of the aged. And why only today, all through the ages human society has been harmed by lack of experience of youth and lack of energy in the old. So we have numerous examples of great acts bringing disasters because they were not backed by knowledge and experience, and of great ideas that remained on paper as the thinkers lacked the zeal and enthusiasm to carry it to a practical end.

A young man has energy and is sparked by idealism. But excess energy of his has to be channeled properly. Only if a sobering second thought is given to his actions, he can do wonders. To cite an example, the young men are made to use their energy to break window panes, to burn buses, to loot shops and to cause death and destruction by some unscrupulous persons who use them as a tool to achieve their own selfish ends. They are too innocent and totally ignorant about what they do and how much harm it causes to the society. They lack understanding and experience. Only if they knew how to use their energy for constructing the society, for eliminating evil, for spreading light of education and for the defense of the country, the society would be transformed in no time. Only age can give them experience. But by the time they age, all their energy is drained and they are too weak on body to transform the great ideas they have in their mind into reality.

We need both the young man՚s energy and the old man՚s knowledge. What becomes important is that the young man is guided by the old to help him channel his energy into right direction. Could Alexanders energy and zeal alone have helped him to win the world without proper guidance and training of his great master, Aristotle? There are two ways of getting the best out of both. One is that old people should remain healthy and strong physically and alert mentally. But it is very difficult and much beyond man՚s control. Howsoever fit an old man may be, he can՚t match the energy and strength of a young man. He has to ripen with age. And the other more practical solution could be that the young men get the knowledge, understanding and experience. Yes, experience can be taught. It is not only by graying of hairs that man Seams. For example, management is an art, we have old time managers who started down In the hierarchy of the company and over the years learns the skill of managing. But today, management schools churn out young managers who prove much more efficient than their older counterparts. The reason is that they learn from the diverse experiences of a number of old managers and what they imbibe is the best of all. So, we have young, smart, all knowing managers who rise fast and may reach the top at the age of 40 − 45 years. They have the best of both worlds energy of youth and experience of age.

If we take example from our freedom struggle, we have a classic case of Nehruji and Gandhiji. Nehruji symbolized Indian youth energetic, impatient and enthusiastic. Gandhiji was symbolic of Indian sage old, thoughtful, moderate and patient. One doubts whether Nehruji, a fine man that he was, could have transformed into a great leader and statesmen if Gandhiji՚s guidance were not available to him. He himself acknowledged the influence of Gandhiji on him. In his youth, he was more attracted towards revolutionaries but it was Gandhiji who showed him the path of evolution and helped him understand the righteousness and value of Satyagraha. These two great men together guided our country to the light of freedom.

So what becomes a practical solution is that the young and the old work together. Today when we talk about the generation gap and related problems, we must realize that old people were young once and the young people of today will become old tomorrow. So both should try to understand each other and give due respect to each other՚s strengths old man՚s experience and the young man՚s enthusiasm. It is only when both work together that we will have youth how can we expect anything better than what we have. So we have reached a situation when even doctors and engineers are remaining unemployed.

Human beings are a resource but it needs to be developed and harnessed else it is like an unpolished diamond which is just a piece of coal. Development of human resource implies physical, mental, spiritual and aesthetic development together. He has to be trained to become useful for the society. The usefulness need not always imply economic productivity though it Is Important but It may even Imply artistic creativity that serves the spiritual and aesthetic needs of man. Even a musician or a painter is useful for the society.

But the first and foremost requirement is economic productivity to make man economically productive, it become important that he is trained. Today, in the age of specialization, the need is of well trained skilled workers. It is quite true that machines displace man from his job but at the same time mechanization also causes a number of ancillary and support units to come up. It throws open new and more challenging jobs which however require proper skill. The important thing is not to oppose mechanization but to identify new avenues and develop suitable skills for them.

Today in the age of computers, so many software and hardware related jobs are coming up that suitable people are difficult to find and on the other hand numerous people with B. A. And BSc are sitting idle. This mismatch of demand and supply in job market is to be corrected. Even in traditional fields like agriculture and animal husbandry, new techniques are getting developed, new fields of pisciculture, sericulture, aqua culture, mushroom cultivation etc. Are coming up. Prawn cultivation is a highly lucrative business.

Along with economic productivity, even creative talents need to be encouraged. It becomes important that we change our outlook on standards of success in life and give adequate respect to artists and craftsmen. The richness of human culture must not be buried under machines. Physical wellbeing of our children demands that they are given suitable facilities to play. A lot of things can be learnt on the play field team spirit and leadership qualities that are important in life.

To achieve true development of human resources, all types of inequalities and distinctions based on birth should be removed. We should forget our social prejudices and all forms of economic and social exploitation should be stopped. Everyone should get an opportunity to develop his/her personality and get what he/she deserves. Human beings who are in chains, who are exploited and abused, who do not have basic necessities of life cannot make Into a resource, And when a large section of population is like this, how can a country be prosperous? So, the prior requirement for wealth and progress of any nation is that its biggest resource, its population, is turned into an asset.