The Hindu Business Line : Panel suggests course correction

THE COMMITTEE has recommended several changes in maritime courses, including in the exam and fee structure and the admission of more rural candidates.

The need to revise and overhaul the process of admission into maritime courses, the examination and the fee structure, with more focus on widening the intake of rural youth, was underscored by the 14-member committee set up by the Ministry of Shipping to go into the status of maritime employment in India.

The Ministry had set up the committee, under the chairmanship of Ms Kiran Dhingra, Director-General of Shipping, with the major terms of reference being to suggest measures to attract rural youth to join merchant shipping, meet the shortage of officers faced by Indian shipping industry, and overcome the stiff challenges from other countries in maritime employment.

India has 128 maritime colleges, with four being government assisted. The total pre-sea intake is 5,493 cadets and 4,694 ratings. The total estimated Indian seafarers employed are 82,000 (27,000 officers and 55,000 ratings). And of these, only 27,000 seafarers (or 33 per cent) are employed in Indian flagged ships; 55,000 (66 per cent) are on foreign flag vessels.

Undefined system

On the admission process, the committee feels that the "the present system of admissions is somewhat undefined, being different for different courses and in different colleges." There is no unified approach being followed, with most private colleges doing their own admissions.

As for intake of rural candidates, the committee says the current policy of admission has "led to a curious profile of students."

Sponsorship of candidates by shipping lines has created a bias in favour of English speaking candidates. "In retrospect, it would seem that the admission policy has been a casualty of the duality of approach.

Had the training programme stuck to sponsorship for admissions, rural youth might have been altogether excluded, but would certainly not have suffered the present shabby treatment. The pace of expansion and the slim managerial unit of the DG-Shipping unfortunately precluded the definition of an admission procedure," the committee says unequivocally.

The CET approach

It has further states that the DGS guidelines for eligibility for admission have been flouted, giving ample reason for reconsideration. Apart from dilution of standards, such a system of admission raises the issue of corruption. "It cannot be ruled out that donations or rent for admissions are not being taken for admitting ineligible candidates," it says.

In the light of this trend, the committee has recommended that the marine training programme move towards the system of Common Entrance Test (CET) for admission.

Fee structure

Maritime education fees now range from Rs 75,000 to Rs 2.5 lakh per annum, going up to Rs 2 lakh to Rs 10 lakh to reach a candidate to the post of CDC. (To mean a Continuous Discharge Certificate, it is also the Seafarer's Identity Document. The CDC is issued by the Shipping Master at Mumbai/Kolkata/Chennai to candidates completing any of the DGS approved pre-sea courses.)

"It is privately acknowledged that merchant navy has become a property of the elite and is already beginning to suffer from the disadvantages of it — of a cadre that is too soft for the rigours of sea life," the committee says.

In fact, it has been suggested that one should look beyond sea-faring employment, as India does offer job opportunities in the wider shipping industry, such as port management, maritime law, marine insurance, logistics, cargo surveying and freight forwarding.

On the process of examinations, the committee notes that: "As with admission, there is fuzziness as to the exact processes being followed for different courses in different colleges." It suggests overhaul of the examination system at both the pre- and post-sea levels for cadets and officers.

At the post-sea level, despite the large number of candidates, the DGS is still shouldering much of the burden. Scams pointing to leakages in security and involvement of surveyors in abetting, copying and cheating have been unearthed and are enough warning signals that overhaul is due, the report says.

With the management of post-sea cadet examinations and viva-voce, it recommended that the DGS be strengthened by creating the post of a Controller of Examinations, who would directly report to the DG.

Also, this post should be supported by a cell of three engineering and three nautical officers.