INSIDE HUBBALLI-DHARWAD'S BLUE DOT EXPERIMENT

In the twin cities of north Karnataka, a pilot is trying to solve one of India’s hardest puzzles

- Pankaj Mishra

B y1pm on 11 September, people crowded in at the zila panchayat hall, in Dharwad, for what was billed as a "learning workshop" on jobs and skills. District officials, principals from industrial training institutes (ITIS), small and medium industrialists from the surrounding clus ters, and rows of students in pressed shirts.

Outside, the late monsoon heat clung to the air; inside, a brass gong punctuated each speaker's tum at the microphone.

One official began with pride. HubballiDharwad, he said, had always been more than just a twin city: an educational capital, a cultural centre, a trading hub. "If this experiment succeeds anywhere, it should be here," he told the room.

But almost immediately, the conversation turned to harder truths. "Every year nearly 70,000 students pass out of Karnataka's ITIs," said Ragapriya R., the commissioner of industrial training. "But how many actually fit what industry needs? How many stay in jobs instead of drifting into gig work?" From the backbenches, placement officers rose to add their frustrations. "Our students want jobs only within 15 or 20 km of home, even if Honda or Toyota offer them more," said Shivaprakash V. Chitragar, principal ofITI Vidyanagar, HubballiDharwad, recalling how his trainees refused to migrate outside HubballiDharwad. Another spoke of the mismatch between industry expectations-"10 hours, 12 hours of duty"-and what trainees were willing, or sometimes able, to take on.

One speaker reached for a metaphor.

Divya Prabhu G.R.J., the district commissioner of Dharwad, compared the process of matching employer and employee to a matrimonial site. "Earlier, matches were made by word of mouth. Today you browse filtersslim, tall, fair. But does that guarantee compatibility? No. It takes deeper understanding." So too with jobs, she argued―mere postings and résumés were not enough.