The greatest and the most precious asset of a country is its people as it is they who exploit all natural resources and potentials of a region.
These people form the wealth of a nation. It is on the quality of citizens that the prosperity of a nation depends. If we look back into the history of civilisations, this hypothesis becomes crystal clear.
This was the main reason behind the economic revolution achieved by some countries, badly battered, ravaged and ruined during the Second World War.
For example, Germany and Japan were virtually shattered and their economies were in a shambles.
But with organisational skill, talent, vigour, inventive genius and indomitable spirit of their people, they achieved, within a short span, a measure of a momentous miracle.
They not only rejuvenated their own economies, but also sent their surplus produce to the nations who needed them.
They accomplished this task by the optimum utilisation of their precious manpower.
What does human resource development mean?
It signifies identifying and developing the capabilities inherent in every citizen to its full extent. Health and education for a person is more important than land and capital.
Ill-health brings suffering, loss of employment, inefficiency and extra expenditure.
The first priority programmes for human resource development us, therefore, extending relief to the poverty-stricken millions of our brethren so that they can overcome their physical and mental disabilities.
The next task that must engage the attention of those trying to development the human resources, is to provide the requisite facilities for a purposeful training of the available manpower, so that its creative abilities are cultivated and it is equipped with the skills needed to perform a productive role and contribute to the maximum prosperity of the maximum number.
This is where education and technical training step in to play their crucial role and weave a path of creativity so that these people can tread on it to accomplish their goals.
After the available human raw material has thus been harnessed, productive potential can come into play in a full measure .
How important this stage is, in the development of human resources, is illustrated by the Indian example. Often it is said that India had a great reservoir of manpower, second in the world to be exact.
Even then, so far as productivity is concerned, the country still lags behind many countries, having less population.
Why is it so? The only answer is that the human resources of India are not adequately expoited, both physically and mentally.
For this, job attitude has to be inculcated among the workers and serious attention has to be inculcated among the workers and serious attention paid to the introduction of efficient management.
The complex array of goals achieved, calls for a multi-directional effort.
Fortunately, India is realising the importance of such a programme, and has now set up a separate ministry for the development of human resources.
How much success we achieve in this programme will depend on how seriously the people who are at the helm of affairs in that department, take this challenge of all time and how much” vision they display in harnessing the most important precious gift of nature to any nation.”
Human resource is an important factor of economic development. As opined by Adam Smith the prosperity of a country is determined by the skill, efficiency and attitude of the labour used by that country.
Many countries have been able to develop themselves due to their will, capacity and skill of their human resources.
As for example, the countries like Japan, Singapore, Germany and Hong Kong have been able to achieve economic miracle by mobilising their human resource.It increase the managerial capacity and entrepreneurship.
It leads to innovation.
The new production technique; new market and new technology are developed.
This increase the production and national income.
Human resource helps directly to remove the economic backwardness.
It increase labour efficiently and specialisation.
It increases labour mobility from which the executing resources can be made more productivity.
The development of human resources increases the knowledge of natural resources.
New production technique, market and opportunities of the economic activities.
The human resources also help in the proper utilisation of imported capital.
These all lead to the increase in production, employment opportunities and levels of living of people.
The utilisation of human resources compensates the deficiency of natural resources have been able to achieve high economic and human development on the basis of human resources. The more existence of physical capital is on guaranteed of development. They should be properly utilised. They are utilised by human resource. It is essential to operate machinery and equipment and to run factories and industry. There is a close relationship between population and economic development. The more development is the human resource of a country the more developed is that country as a whole.