National Missions
With the aim to drive the ‘Skill India’ agenda in mission mode and to steer and coordinate the skilling initiatives with quality deliverables, the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) was created in Nov, 2014. With the mission statement “Kaushal Bharat Kushal Bharat”, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), the flagship scheme of MSDE was launched in July, 2015. PMKVY is being implemented through National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). A new version of PMKVY was launched in July, 2016 with modification and continuation of PMKVY as ‘Skill Development Component’ of umbrella PMKVY with a target to skill 10 million people over 4 years (2016-2020) at an outlay of INR 12,000 crore.
India is blessed with 65% of population comprising of youth, the working age group. The skill ecosystem in India is undergoing major reforms and policy interventions as India embarks on its journey to become a Knowledge Economy. The skill gap study by the NSDC for the period 2010-2014 reported that over 109.73 million additional skilled manpower would be required by 2022 across different sectors.
The objective of PMKVY is to enable a large number of Indian youth to take up industry-relevant skill training that will help them in securing a better livelihood. It aims to benefit 1 Crore youth. Institutions comprising NSDC, Sector Skill Councils (SSCs), Assessment Agencies (AAs), and Training Partners (TPs) are already in place for implementation of the Scheme and more may be added during the course.
The Short Term Training imparted at PMKVY Training Centres (TCs) is expected to benefit school/college dropouts or unemployed Indians. Apart from providing training according to the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF), TCs shall also impart training in Soft Skills, Entrepreneurship, Financial and Digital Literacy. Duration of the training ranges between 150 - 300 hrs. Under PMKVY, the entire training and assessment fees are paid by the Government. Payouts shall be provided to the TPs in alignment with the Common Norms. Individuals with prior learning experience or skills will also be assessed and certified under Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) component of the Scheme. RPL aims to align the competencies of the unregulated workforce of the country to the NSQF. TPs shall conduct Kaushal and Rozgar Melas every 6 months with press/media coverage and actively participate in other such activities. PMKVY envisages to link the aptitude, aspiration, and knowledge of the skilled workforce it creates with employment opportunities and demands in the market.