INTEGRATED SAFEGUARDS DATA SHEET APPRAISAL STAGE Report No.: 108898 Date ISDS Prepared/Updated: September 22, 2016 I. BASIC INFORMATION 1. Basic Project Data Country: India Project ID P158435 Project Name: IPF Component of Skill India Mission Operation (SIMO) Task Team Shabnam Sinha and John D. Blomquist Leader(s) Estimated Appraisal September 22, 2016 Estimated Board December 8, 2016 Date Date Managing Unit GEDDR Lending Instrument Investment Project Financing Sector(s) Vocational Training (80%); Adult literacy/ non-formal education (20%) Themes Education for the Knowledge Economy (80%); Improving Labor Markers (20%) Is this project processed under OP 8.50 (Emergency Recovery) or No OP 8.00 (Rapid Response to Crises and Emergencies)? Financing (In USD Million) Total Project Cost: US$50 million for Total Bank Financing: US$50 million for the the TA (Total cost of TA (Total cost of the the Operation is Operation is US$4.257 billion) US$4.257 billion) Financing Gap: 0.00 Financing Source Amount Borrower US$3,057 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development US$1,000 Others (Private Sector through CSR) US$200 Total US$4,257 Environmental B Category: Is this a Repeater No project? 2. Project Development Objective(s) India has become one of the world's fastest growing knowledge based economies due to immensely abundant human capital. However, given the changing demands arising out of shifts 1 in the labor force from primary to secondary and territory sectors, there is still a need to further develop the existing low skills levels which pose a challenge to the country’s growth and global competitiveness. A large population in the productive age-group requires significant effort in ensuring that the group is indeed productive. Preparing the economy to absorb the large mass of population coming into the workforce requires ensuring that they are skilled to meet the requirement of the sectors that will employ them. Globalization, advances in Information Technology and trade liberalization in India have led to a series of changes in the Indian labor market in terms of growth of skilled based work force. Despite the emphatic stress laid on education and training in this country, there is still a shortage of skilled manpower to address the mounting needs and demands of the economy. In response, the Government of India has been striving to initiate and achieve formal/informal skill development of the working population via education/vocational education/skill training and other upcoming learning methods. While a range of government and private institutions offer skill training programs, these programs suffer from inadequate quality and relevance, lack of coordination within the sector, and insufficient attention to labor market outcomes. In addition, the current training capacity is grossly inadequate to respond to the country’s needs. In this background, Government of India has identified skill development as one of the priority sectors and has taken up several initiatives to meet the challenge of expansion of training capacity with speed, high quality standards and sustainability. One such key initiative is the World Bank assisted Skill India Mission Operation (SIMO), currently under preparation. This aims to enhance the access, quality and relevance of training programs for the needs of the labor market in a growing economy. The SIMO will support implementation of the Government’s strategy outlined in the 2015 National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, with focus on all skill development (SD) programs, delivered at national and state levels, except those delivered by Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) which are supported through another Bank operation (Skills Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement - STRIVE). The objective of the proposed operation will be to enhance institutional mechanisms for skill development and increase access to quality and market relevant training for the work force. SIMO is targeted at 400 million Indian people who are planned to be trained by the year 2022 with special emphasis on reaching women, poor and other excluded communities. Apart from these groups, the key stakeholders of SIMO include: the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and its associate agencies at the national level, and, the State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs) and their associate agencies in the various states. 3. Project Description The key interventions of SIMO relate to capacity building of the institutions and small scale infrastructure works which are expected to result in substantial social and environmental benefits to the unemployed/ unemployable youth, at large, especially, those belonging to the poor and vulnerable sections. Hence, adverse impacts that are sensitive, diverse and unprecedented on the 2 environment and/or people are not foreseen. However, planned efforts are essential to ensure that project interventions do result in sustainable social and environmental benefits. Further, the lending instruments adopted for SIMO are twofold: one, Program for Results (PforR) operation which covers the bulk of the credit; and the other Investment Project Financing (IPF), meant to support the Technical Assistance component. Consequently, the social and environmental management have been planned separately for the two lending streams. This report relates to safeguard compliance with respect to the Technical Assistance Component of SIMO. It may also be noted that a comprehensive assessment of the Environmental and Social Systems (ESSA) has been carried out by the World Bank’s Task Team as required for the PforR component and a separate report has been prepared. The PforR component of SIMO focuses on the following results areas:  Result Area 1: Institutional Strengthening at the national and state levels for planning, delivery and monitoring of high-quality market relevant training. : The main objective of this Results Area is to strengthen institutional mechanisms to plan and monitor the delivery of high quality-market relevant training.  Results Area 2: Improving quality and market relevance of skill development programs. The objective of this Results Area is to ensure that all TPs have access to packages of technical resources and materials that can help them to improve the quality of their program offerings, and labor market transitions of trainees.  Results Area 3: Improving access to and completion of skills training for female trainees and other disadvantaged groups. The objective of this Results Area will be to identify innovative and replicable methods to (a) enhance access to high quality training, through tailoring interventions, program offerings, service delivery for socially excluded groups (such as women, scheduled tribes, scheduled castes and persons with disabilities) and (b) integrate constraints and needs of socially excluded groups into the planning, monitoring and delivery of skills development programs.  Result Area 4: Expanding skills training through Private-Public Partnerships (PPPs). A Skills Fund will be created to engage in a PPP arrangement to pool private financial resources for skilling interventions. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds can be used for SD activities and the Government envisages providing incentives to induce companies to channel their CSR funds towards training and enter into a partnership. Technical Assistance Component: Technical Assistance component aims to strengthen the capacity of MSDE, its participating agencies and State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs) to help them to achieve the SIMO objectives. It will support, among others, the following activities: program management, including the establishment of a Program Management Unit (PMU), coordination, and communication; technical support for Monitoring & Evaluation, including independent evaluations and third party verifications; access to international expertise and best practices; supporting SSDMs in devising successful pilots for addressing needs of the disadvantaged sections and improve implementation capacity especially of low income states; and strengthening of the National Skill Development Framework (NSDF) governance mechanism. 3 4. Project location and salient physical characteristics relevant to the safeguard analysis (if known) The project is expected to be spread across all the states in the country. The TA support primarily consists of consultancy services for supporting program management, conducting third party validation of the achievement of Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs), conducting third party assessments, evaluations of performance data and implementation activities; international exposure visits for capacity building and pilot studies. Creation or augmentation of infrastructure is not envisaged under the TA. Therefore no significant, long term adverse environment or social impacts are anticipated from the interventions/activities of TA. On the social front, no lands are to be secured as the interventions are exclusively ‘services’ oriented and devoid of civil works. However, the project is spread across the country and the interventions could take place in the tribal areas. While no adverse impacts on tribals is expected, project interventions has been designed such as to ensure ‘inclusion’ of tribals. 5. Environmental and Social Safeguards Specialists on the Team: - Pyush Dogra, Senior Environment Specialist, GENDR - Suryanarayana Satish, Senior Social Development Specialist, GSURR 6. Safeguard Policies Triggered? Explanation (Optional) Environmental Assessment OP/BP Yes OP 4.10 has been triggered. 4.01 The TA component covers consultancy services to support the skill development program. The interventions under this component will not involve creation or augmentation of infrastructure, or other related field activities. Considering the scope of the TA component, environmental impacts are not envisaged. Also, considering the fact that an Environmental and Social Systems Assessment (ESSA) has been undertaken, which includes an action plan on environmental management aspects, a separate Environmental Assessment for the TA component is not required. Natural Habitats OP/BP 4.04 No - Forests OP/BP 4.36 No - Pest Management OP 4.09 No - Physical Cultural Resources No - OP/BP 4.11 Indigenous Peoples OP/ BP 4.10 Yes The policy is triggered given the 4 Program is country-wide and the beneficiaries could also include students belonging to Scheduled/ Tribal Areas and/ or that TA activities may have a bearing on the Tribal Areas. A Social Assessment has been carried out and a Tribal People Planning Framework prepared to be adopted, as appropriate, during implementation Involuntary Resettlement OP/BP No This policy has not been triggered 4.12 given that project shall not finance civil works involving compulsory land acquisition, involuntary resettlement, or causing restriction of access to natural resources. Safety of Dams OP/BP 4.37 No - Projects on International No - Waterways OP/BP 7.50 Projects in Disputed Areas OP/BP No - 7.60 II. Key Safeguard Policy Issues and Their Management A. Summary of Key Safeguard Issues 1. Describe any safeguard issues and impacts associated with the proposed project. Identify and describe any potential large scale, significant and/or irreversible impacts: TA component is designed essentially to provide soft support to the main SIMO program and is expected to encompass the following elements: (i) Project Management Support including external technical capacity support; (ii) Policy and other analytical as well as diagnostic studies; (iii) national as well as international Observation Study Tours (OST) including workshops, seminars etc.; and (iv) Information, education and communication campaign (IEC). Given this activity portfolio, it is expected to result in substantial social and environmental benefits to the society at large, especially, to the poor and vulnerable sections. Adverse impacts that are sensitive, diverse and unprecedented on the environment and/or people are not foreseen. 2. Describe any potential indirect and/or long term impacts due to anticipated future activities in the project area: The interventions envisaged under the TA component of SIMO are not likely to have any adverse environmental impacts. 5 3. Describe any project alternatives (if relevant) considered to help avoid or minimize adverse impacts. Skill development is a highly diverse and multi-faceted activity. The type of programs offered depends upon a variety of factors related to trainers, trainees, training providers, nature and scale of trades. Even the strategy of implementation too varies substantially. So, project characteristically will try and experiment with a variety of alternatives. These, however, get unfurled during the implementation and are meant to enhance the effectiveness of the intervention. No adverse impacts are envisaged from any of the alternative skill development interventions. 4. Describe measures taken by the borrower to address safeguard policy issues. Provide an assessment of borrower capacity to plan and implement the measures described. It is categorical that no construction activities or other related field activities will be supported out of this fund. Hence, the component’s proposed interventions will not result in any adverse impacts on people and/ or environment. But, the social assessments made during the project preparation have established that there could be tribal people in the project areas and some of the analytical studies may be specific to the tribal areas. However, full knowledge about the interventions likely to take place during implementation does not exists at preparation, to warrant a comprehensive planning. Given this situation, in accordance with the Indian Constitutional Provision as well as World Bank’s Operational Policy (OP) on Indigenous Peoples, 4.10, a Tribal Peoples Planning Framework has been prepared. This plan essentially outlines consultative measures to be adopted while planning any Technical Assistance Activity in the tribal areas and or related to tribals. Among several socio-cultural groups, one notable group on the periphery of economic and social progress are the tribal groups (or ‘Adivasis’). These people have been identified by the constitution as ‘scheduled tribes’ (ST).1 There are an estimated 84 million tribal persons, which accounts for around eight percent of India’s population of 1.2 billion. It is about 15% — double that of their share in the total population of India. Tribal people also fare badly in respect of human development indicators such as health and education. The tribal peoples’ poorer education and health indicators are attributed in the first instance to poverty, which in turn, is a result of them being physically isolated, concentrated in remote hilly and forested areas suffering from poor accessibility and practicing mostly subsistence agriculture, often dependent on forest produce. In response to the unique challenges faced by the STs, the Government of India (GoI) has undertaken a number of measures over the years. The Constitution of India recognizes the diversity of STs across India as well as other complex problems in terms of geographical isolation, socio-economic backwardness, distinctive culture, poor infrastructure facilities, 1 There are 645 distinct tribal groups recognized as STs in India. More than half the population are concentrated in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Gujarat (the ‘central belt’ of India). A second belt starts from the north, and comprises Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand to the seven states in the north eastern region. The third is the southern belt with some STs in the south Indian states, as well as islands of Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep. 6 language and religion, exploitation by various groups, and so on. In response, five broad categories of safeguards2 are provided: (i) social – chiefly related to abolishing of un- touchability; (ii) economic – chiefly provision of fifth and sixth schedule areas; (iii) educational and cultural – reservations in educational institutions; (iv) political – provides for reservation of seats in legislature; and (iv) services – reservations in appointments or of posts in public employment. Thus India has both protective provisions to safeguard tribal people from social injustices, as well as developmental provisions to promote their educational and economic interests. Further, administrative provisions under the Fifth and Sixth Schedules give special powers to the state for the protection and governance of tribal areas and reservation provisions ensure due representation in legislative bodies and government jobs. The introduction of Panchayats Extension Act to the scheduled areas (PESA) was enacted by the Indian Parliament on Dec 24, 1996. This Act offers a provision for greater local control over resources and decision making to the tribal people through institutions like Gram Panchayat and Gram Sabha. The Fifth Schedule consists of districts in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan which are dominated by tribal population. As per the constitution each of these states is expected to form a Tribal Advisory Council. The Constitution further provides that it shall be the duty of the Tribes Advisory Council to advice on such matters pertaining to the welfare and advancement of the Scheduled Tribes in the State as may be referred to them by the Governor. The tribal majority regions of North East India, is the part of the Sixth Schedule of the Indian constitution. It has a set of legal provisions are designed especially for tribal majority regions in the North Easter hills of India. The Schedule provides for the constitutions of Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) under which all the tribal chiefs and headmen were placed. The idea was to provide a democratic voice to the tribal structures within the modern state. The Fifth and Sixth Schedule of Indian constitution provides for self-governance by tribals. Accordingly, measures to reach the tribal including conducting consultations and seeking consent in respect of activities taken in these areas, have been specified. India is well endowed with a variety of institutions at national as well as state levels, having a well laid out training programs, but with varied capacities. Implementation arrangements, viz., systems and procedures do exist for outreach activities to create awareness and mobilization, assessing the trainers, training programs and training infrastructure, to enable drawing inferences on the adequacy, or otherwise, in ensuring effectiveness. A clear and definite mandate does exist both at the national and state levels for ensuring the social inclusiveness and capacity building of various agencies to address the social issues. National and state legislations too provide for affirmative actions to ensure inclusion, among others, including tribals. 2 GoI, Tribal Constitutional Safeguards and Protective Measures for Tribals, http://ncsc.nic.in/files/ncsc/new6/261.pdf 7 The TPPF sets out a framework to be adopted during implementation so as to ensure that tribal communities are informed, consulted, and mobilized to participate in the project activities. The Framework is intended to guide selection and preparation of, as well as contribute towards undertaking policy and other analytical studies as well as in the conduction of diagnostic as well as exploratory enquiries. Thus, this will provide a frame work of participation, as well as management modalities, in the tribal and / or Left Wing Extremist areas in the preparation of a Tribal People Plan during implementation. 5. Identify the key stakeholders and describe the mechanisms for consultation and disclosure on safeguard policies, with an emphasis on potentially affected people. The primary stakeholders include the intended target population or beneficiaries of the project being supported through the proposed operation viz.,-- trainees comprising men, women, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Minorities, Persons with Disability, and Other Backward Castes– the training/ service providers, Training Institutions/ instructors, local employers, local communities. Apex level stakeholders include the relevant state departments of education, employment, labour, social welfare, tribals, and minority. Likewise, national level stakeholders include: Ministry of Skills Development Entrepreneurship, National Skill Development Corporation, Tribal Affairs; Women and Child; Minorities; and Social Justice and Empowerment. TPPF is premised on extensive consultations conducted with several stakeholders from states:– Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Rajasthan and Odisha. The states were representative in terms of geography and socio-economic-cultural development. Overall, the selection of the training institutions met the following criteria:  Representation from five zones of India: north, south, east, west and north-east.  Service Providers from urban and rural areas as well as a mix of trades.  A variety of terrain and access, such as remote and centrally located and hills and coastal areas.  Women Centered Programs  Low Income States  Tribal Areas – Fifth Schedule and Sixth Schedule Areas  Conflict Areas – Left Wing Extremist areas Consultations have been held both at national and state level with various stakeholders including government officials, industries associations, industries, training service providers, trainers, and trainees. Draft TPPF has been disclosed through the website of MSDE and disseminated widely across different states. Protocols to conduct consultations in the fifth and sixth schedule areas during implementation will be developed depending upon the activity undertaken. In general, this would include: selection of persons/ agencies to be consulted, venue and timing for consultations, setting of agenda, making available relevant documents in local languages, conduction of the consultative meeting as well as recording the proceedings and subsequently disseminating the same. Bi-annual monitoring through local participation (tribal leaders and other department) shall also be done. 8 B. Disclosure Requirements Environmental Assessment/Audit/Management Plan/Other Date of receipt by the Bank NA Date of submission to InfoShop NA For category A projects, date of distributing the Executive Summary of the EA to the Executive Directors "In country" Disclosure India NA Comments: Indigenous Peoples Development Plan/Framework Date of receipt by the Bank September 5, 2016 Date of submission to InfoShop September 30, 2016 "In country" Disclosure India September 7, 2016 Comments: If the project triggers the Pest Management and/or Physical Cultural Resources policies, the respective issues are to be addressed and disclosed as part of the Environmental Assessment/Audit/or EMP. If in-country disclosure of any of the above documents is not expected, please explain why: C. Compliance Monitoring Indicators at the Corporate Level OP/BP/GP 4.01 - Environment Assessment Does the project require a stand-alone EA (including Yes [ ] No [X ] NA [ ] 9 EMP) report? If yes, then did the Regional Environment Unit or Yes [ ] No [ ] NA [X] Practice Manager (PM) review and approve the EA report? Are the cost and the accountabilities for the EMP Yes [ ] No [ ] NA [X] incorporated in the credit/loan? OP/BP 4.11 - Physical Cultural Resources Does the EA include adequate measures related to Yes [ ] No [ ] NA [X] cultural property? Does the credit/loan incorporate mechanisms to mitigate Yes [ ] No [ ] NA [X] the potential adverse impacts on cultural property? OP/BP 4.10 - Indigenous Peoples Has a separate Indigenous Peoples Plan/Planning Yes [X ] No [ ] NA [ ] Framework (as appropriate) been prepared in consultation with affected Indigenous Peoples? If yes, then did the Regional unit responsible for Yes [ ] No [ ] NA [ ] safeguards or Practice Manager review the plan? If the whole project is designed to benefit IP, has the Yes [ ] No [ ] NA [ X] design been reviewed and approved by the Regional Social Development Unit or Practice Manager? The World Bank Policy on Disclosure of Information Have relevant safeguard policies documents been sent to Yes [X ] No [ ] NA [ ] the World Bank's Infoshop? Have relevant documents been disclosed in-country in a Yes [X ] No [ ] NA [ ] public place in a form and language that are understandable and accessible to project-affected groups and local NGOs? All Safeguard Policies Have satisfactory calendar, budget and clear institutional Yes [X ] No [ ] NA [ ] responsibilities been prepared for the implementation of measures related to safeguard policies? Have costs related to safeguard policy measures been Yes [ X] No [ ] NA [ ] included in the project cost? Does the Monitoring and Evaluation system of the Yes [X ] No [ ] NA [ ] project include the monitoring of safeguard impacts and measures related to safeguard policies? Have satisfactory implementation arrangements been Yes [X ] No [ ] NA [ ] agreed with the borrower and the same been adequately reflected in the project legal documents? III. APPROVALS Task Team Leader(s): Name: Shabnam Sinha John Blomquist Approved By 10 Practice Manager/ Manager: Name: Keiko Miwa Date: 11