Skill India

What is Skill India?

Mr. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, launched the Skill India Mission in 2015, as part of his aim to help India become “Atmanirbhar” (self-reliant). The goal of this project was to establish and implement comprehensive skill development training programs. These programs would assist bridge the gap between industry demands and skill requirements. Hence help the country flourish as a whole.

The skill India programs involved putting in place curriculum-based skill training courses in which participants received certifications and endorsements from industry-recognized learning centers. Incorporating skill-based learning into school curricula, as well as generating possibilities for both long- and short-term skill training and employment, was also part of the aim. The scheme provides 100% centrally sponsored demand driven short term training courses. These courses are based on ‘Modular Employable Skills’ decided in consultation with industry.

Skills Under the Skill India Mission 

The Skill India mission aims to cover the following categories of skills in their education and training programs:

• Apprenticeship training – The program was established to expand apprenticeship opportunities in the country by giving post-secondary job training to engineering graduates and diploma holders.
• Technical intern training program (TITP) – This program promotes international collaboration by facilitating the transfer of skills, technology, and expertise between participating nations, assisting in the development of human resources. Students can take professional development courses in Japan’s industrial society for a specified length of time through this program (3-5 years).
• Online skilling – The ‘e-Skill’ India portal connects B2C digital e-learning sites that create and source e-learning content.

Benefits of Training Under the Skill India Mission

• The candidates’ job profiles tend to be particularly outstanding in terms of the skill set they have at their disposal, since they are graduates of skill workshops and programs that are certified and recognized on a global scale. 
• The Skill India program provides individuals with the necessary training and skill development in order to help them get fantastic employment.
• Because the training programs emphasize skill development at the grassroots level, every sector benefits from a certain amount of growth, ensuring all-round development.
• The demand for skilled labour is always present, and the Skill India project was created to address that demand. 
• The entrance of trained persons into the labour pool ensures the availability of skilled and quality labour, hence accelerating the economy’s overall growth.
• The existing Skill Development Management System (SDMS) site also ensures that candidates receive the best quality training and that the level of quality remains consistent throughout the course under the Skill India program.
• Under the Skill India project, assistance is also provided to candidates in the form of monitoring and providing required support to those candidates who are budding entrepreneurs, as well as providing them with the necessary coaching and mentoring.

Schemes under the Skill India Initiative

The government has designed a number of critical programs to ensure that the ‘Skill India Mission’ programs are carried out across the country. The following are the schemes under the Skill India initiative:

• Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana
• Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS)
• Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra
• Pre-Departure Orientation Training (PDOT)
• India International Skill Centres (IISCs)
• Pradhan Mantri YUVA Yojana (PM YUVA)
• SANKALP (Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion)

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana

The Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana Scheme is the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) flagship scheme. The PMKVY scheme is implemented by the National Skill Development Corporation.

The scheme’s basic principle is to develop qualified and certified workers who will not only contribute to India’s prosperity but also propel the country toward being the global skills capital. Significant core and peripheral adjustments have been planned for the scheme’s implementation method to achieve this in a more holistic way. Given the short timeframe for implementation, the scheme’s focus will be on developing a thorough framework for the new provisions and piloting them in preparation for a bigger rollout in the scheme’s second phase.

The first edition of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) initiative was introduced in 2015 with the goal of encouraging and promoting skill development in the country by offering free short-term skill training and motivating it by paying youth for skill certification. Following the successful implementation of PMKVY (2015-16) and lessons learned from the past, PMKVY 2.0 (2016-20) was launched by expanding sectors, geographies, and better aligning with other government of India missions and programs such as ‘Make in India,’ ‘Digital India,’ and ‘Swachh Bharat Mission.’

The scheme will complement the support provided by various Central and State Government schemes. These schemes include the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), MUDRA loans under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY), Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) / Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM), Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and other similar programs that have goals similar to PMKVY  3.0 for generation of livelihood opportunities for the candidates trained under the scheme.

Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS)

Since March 1967, the Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS), originally known as Shramik Vidyapeeth, has been implementing the scheme through a network of NGOs across the country. The first Shramik Vidyapeeth was founded in Mumbai [Worli] and commissioned by the Bombay City Social Council Education Committee, a non-profit organization dedicated to adult education. Following the project’s success, the Indian government devised a plan to gradually establish a network of similar institutions across the country.

The role and scope of these polyvalent educational institutions have increased dramatically as the economic and social landscape has changed throughout time. In light of the new situation, the focus of Shramik Vidyapeeth (SVP) has shifted from industrial workers in urban areas to non-literates, neo-literates, unskilled, and unemployed youth, notably from SC/ST/OBC/Minority/Divyang/Women across the country, particularly in rural regions. With the year 2000, the SVPs were called Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS).

In July 2018, the Jan Shikshan Sansthan initiative was shifted from the Ministry of Human Resources Development to the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has launched the “Skill India Mission,” which aims to construct state-of-the-art, visible, aspirational model training centers in every district of India. “Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra” is the name given to these model training centers (PMKK).

PMKK is well-equipped to deliver high-quality industry-driven courses that emphasize employability and provide aspirational value for skill development training. PMKK wants to shift the short-term training environment from a mandate-driven delivery paradigm to a long-term institutional approach.

The establishment of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra is aided by financial assistance. The NSDC provides money in the form of a secured loan of up to INR 70 lakhs per Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra.

Pre-Departure Orientation Training (PDOT)

The PDOT program was established in response to the need to educate potential migrant workers about language, culture, do’s and don’ts in the destination country, the emigration procedure, and welfare measures. 

The PDOT program is run by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in partnership with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE). This program’s implementing agency is the NSDC. Trainers who have completed MEA’s Training of Trainers (ToT) program deliver the PDOT program. PDOT has qualified a total of 68 trainers thus far.

In March 2017, MEA and India Centre for Migration launched Pre-Departure Orientation Training (PDOT) modules, as well as the first ever Training of Trainers (ToT) for IISC Trainers. 4ToT programs have been organized since 2017 under the Pre-Departure Orientation Training (PDOT).

India International Skill Centres (IISCs)

The IISC Network is intended to serve as a nodal platform for Indians interested in international workforce mobility. The Government of India’s aim to make India the world’s skill capital will rely heavily on this network. It will be a fee-based, market-driven paradigm, with global workforce supply and demand dynamics determining the model. 

It will be made up of Member Organizations that will operate through a number of stationary centers known as IISCs. The Indian government wants to make India the world’s skill capital. To attain this goal, NSDC and MSDE form relationships with international public/private partners and industry organizations. Empaneled IISCs would be ideal partners for putting such G2G or B2B initiatives in place.

Market awareness is essential for staying on top of the ever-changing dynamics of international workforce mobility. On a regular basis, the NSDC will assist in supplying information on migration clusters, overseas mobility mechanisms, and workforce supply/demand data. This will aid members of the IISC Network in discovering new business prospects.

Pradhan Mantri YUVA Yojana (PM-YUVA)

The Pradhan Mantri YUVA Yojana (PM-YUVA) is a five-year effort launched by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurial (MSDE) to provide entrepreneurship education and training, advocacy, and simple access to an entrepreneurship support network to over 7 lakh adolescents.

The scheme’s two main goals are to firstly, educate and equip potential and early-stage entrepreneurs. Then, enable entrepreneurs to connect with peers, mentors, incubators, funding, and business services by connecting them to enabling networks of peers, mentors, incubators, funding, and business services.

A network of Entrepreneurship Resource and Coordination Hubs will carry out the initiative (E-Hubs). The Nodal E-Hub, Delhi-NCR, is in charge of ensuring that the PM YUVA initiative is implemented on the ground in the Delhi-NCR region. Mr. Manu Sakunia is the Nodal Manager of the Noida-based Nodal E-Hub.

SANKALP (Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion)

The Ministry of Skill Development’s Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (“SANKALP”) initiative is funded by a World Bank loan. It strives to increase short-term skill training in terms of quality and quantity by strengthening institutions, improving market connectedness, and including marginalized groups in society. Sankalp Scheme was established on January 19, 2018 and will run through March 20, 2023.

The project’s outcomes are assessed using the Results Framework and Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) developed by MSDE and the World Bank.

“SANKALP has three key result areas namely (i) Institutional Strengthening at Central, State and District level; (ii) Quality Assurance of skill development programmes; and (iii) Inclusion of marginalized population in skill development programmes.”

Discover More

Related Articles

VPF vs NPS

Voluntary Provident Fund (VPF)

Unnat Bharat Abhiyan in India

Ujala Scheme

Tax Free Bonds- Meaning, Features, Invest and Redeem

Svamitva Scheme